The Guardians
by Chloe Black
Summary: AU:Ginny has to spend the summer with Harry at the Dursleys There has been another prophecy made. This time involving Ginny and Harry, and the only place she is safe is with him. Neither of them have been informed of the exact contents of this prophecy.
1. Shocking and Horrible Surprises

The Guardians

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these wonderful characters; they all belong to the magnificent J.K. Rowling. (Except for the original few that you'll be able to recognize yourselves!)

A/N: Since I've decided to continue writing this story, I thought it'd be nice to edit the chapters that I have already posted. I started writing this story a very, very long time ago, and let's just say, my writing skills were just not what they are now. Hahaha..So, without further-a-do, here is the new, edited revamped version of Chapter One! Please enjoy :)

**Chapter 1: Shocking and Horrible Surprises**

There was a soft knock on Ginny's bedroom door.

"Come in." she replied. She was trying to focus on finishing her summer assignments early, for her family was leaving for Grimmauld Place in a few days time. She promised her mother she would have most of it, if not all of it done before they departed for the rest of the summer.

"Gin, mum wants you to come downstairs." Ginny looked up from her transfiguration textbook to see a worried looking Ron peering through the slightly open door.

"Ron, what is it?" She asked nervously. "Has something happened; is it Harry?" Ginny tried to keep herself from imaging the worst. The last thing any of them (especially Harry) needed was another tragedy.

"No. Harry's fine, Gin. Just come downstairs, Remus is here; he wants to talk to you about something."

Ginny did not have to be told twice. She knew that if Remus was _here_, that it was something urgent; otherwise he would just wait until they arrived at headquarters. She silently followed her brother down the creaking staircase to the sitting room where Remus, accompanied by Tonks was sitting with her parents and brothers. As she entered the room, everyone stared at her with identical gazes, one that she could not interpret properly.

"Ginny, why don't you sit down?" Remus Lupin suggested. He looked just as troubled as Ron, but Remus was much better at concealing just how worried he was. Ginny figured this was due to the fact that he had experienced much more grief in his lifetime than most of the people occupying the room.  
Ginny peered around the room taking in the expressions of her family. Her mother was crying silently on the sofa and her father was attempting to comfort her; her father wore a grim expression that was mirrored on Fred, George and Ron's faces.  
"What's going on?" Ginny asked the room at large, as she took a seat next to Fred.

Everyone turned to Remus, and Mrs. Weasley began sobbing again. Ginny looked at Remus meaningfully, encouraging him to go on; she could no longer bear the silence.

"Well," Remus began, "Professor Dumbledore has informed us of a new prophecy; one by Sybil Trelawney."

Ginny raised her eyebrows in disbelief. "Professor Trelawney? We all know she's a giant fraud…" There was no way, that _this _was what everyone was so upset about. To believe Trelawney's predictions of all things was ridiculous.

"I thought so too for a very long time, Ginny, but she's made a fair few _true_ predictions in her time." He responded. Every ounce of his tone suggested that he believed it, which was beginning to convince Ginny.

Realization clicked into Ginny's head. "The prophecy in the Department of Mysteries last year…was _that _one of them?"

Remus nodded his assent, but it was Ron who responded, "Yeah. It said it on the shelf where the prophecy was before Harry picked it up. You must not have seen it." Ginny was still surprised; Trelawney never seemed very credible at her lessons.

She broke the short silence, after absorbing what she had just heard. "So what does this have to do with me?"

"She's made another prediction, quite recently; involving you." Replied Remus, staring gravely at Ginny.

"What is it about, exactly?" Her voice was barely more than a whisper; her heart rate had accelerated to a much more rapid pace than normal.

"Unfortunately, I am not at liberty to discuss the details of the prophecy with you." He sounded apologetic, but Ginny wasn't swayed.

"But you know what it is, don't you?" Ginny pleaded.

"I am only able to tell you that you are not in immediate danger. And there are ways to keep you safe. Which is why I'm here. There is ancient magic that protects Harry whilst he stays at his aunt's house. Harry is undetected by Voldemort and his followers while residing under that roof. You too will be safe there, as long as Harry is still able to call it his home." Remus paused as he surveyed the Weasley family. It occurred to Ginny that this was their first time for them, as well as her, hearing this half of the news. He continued, looking back at Ginny now, "Tomorrow evening, Tonks and I will be back to transport you and your things to Privet Drive. Can you be ready by 7 pm?"

She nodded firmly. "Have you told Harry?" The more important question to ask however, was if Harry's aunt and uncle knew. But she was sure Remus would pick up on that part of the question.

"Yes, and his aunt and uncle have been informed. I'll warn you though; they aren't thrilled, but we were expecting that. We've had a talk with them about how important this is. They are aware that they don't really have a choice."

"Just like with Harry." Ron and Ginny said in unison. She turned to look at her brother; he smiled weakly at her, and she returned it a trifle more enthusiastically. She had to show them that she was strong and that this wasn't as terrifying as it seemed.

Remus regarded the entire Weasley family once more, "We've got to go finish making preparations. We'll see you at seven, tomorrow night." And then added, looking at Ginny one last time, "Try not to worry too much. I know it's a lot to grasp." They all said their goodbyes to Tonks and Remus and with a soft pop from each of them, they apparated out of sight, leaving the room eerily silent.

All eyes were on Ginny. They all seemed to be waiting for her to show any sign of fear, but she refused to. It wasn't that she did feel frightened; she _did. _Probably more than any of them realized. But she knew that if she was going to leave them the following evening, she had show more of her strength than her weakness.

Her mother broke into a fresh wave of sobs. She seemed to be at a loss for words as she walked across to where her daughter was sitting to envelope her in the signature Molly Weasley hug. Her father, joined in not long after, and gradually Fred, George and Ron did too. Ginny could no longer hold back the huge waves of emotions that were hitting her all at once. She cried silently on her mother's shoulder.

That night Ginny lay in bed unable to fall asleep. She was overwhelmed by everything that she had learned only a few hours before. Her life had changed in an instant without a single warning of what was coming. She felt nervous at the thought of leaving her family for an entire summer, but anxious at the same time to get to Harry's house. Just like the rest of her family, she was worried about him. He had experienced a huge loss only a few weeks before, and now he was locked up in a place he hated more than anything, with people who did not care one bit for him. She hoped that her arrival would lift his spirits at least slightly. He would probably have preferred Ron or Hermione, but in any case, she knew that her presence would be much better than any of the people he was currently with.


	2. Packing and Leaving

The Guardians

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these wonderful characters; they all belong to the magnificent J.K. Rowling. (Except for the original few that you'll be able to recognize yourselves!)

**Chapter 2: Packing and Leaving**

Despite Ginny's uneasy slumber, she woke early the next morning. The sun had not yet finished rising, but she could no longer stay in bed, staring at the patterns on her ceiling. Anxious to have everything ready for her prolonged stay at Privet Drive, Ginny pulled her school trunk from underneath her bed. Within the trunk were last year's books, old parchment, broken quills and empty ink bottles. She quickly removed all of this, transferring the books to a corner of her room and the rest to the rubbish bin.

All the while, she had her thoughts fixed on Harry. She knew that it was inevitably her responsibility to take care of him. This part didn't bother her, however, Harry was known for blaming himself for the tragedies that occurred around him; the death of his beloved godfather was certainly not going to be an exception. It was going to be a difficult task, convincing Harry that he had no reason to feel guilty; but Ginny was determined to bring him out of it, even though she had no experience with the loss of loved ones.

After about an hour, everything Ginny needed was packed into her trunk. It was a bit difficult to close, but eventually she managed to cram it shut. She headed downstairs, following the smell of eggs and bacon that her mother was cooking. She groaned inwardly as she was reminded that Harry's relatives did not feed him well. She was definitely going to savor this last breakfast at home.

As she entered the kitchen, Ginny was greeted by the sight of Fred and George. They had moved out after their glorious departure from Hogwarts and leased a flat above their joke shop in Diagon Alley. Fred, determined to keep the mood light, began to tease Ginny, "So Gin, are you excited to be staying with Harry all by yourself this summer?"

George responded in a mocking tone before Ginny got the chance to do it herself, "Oh Fred, didn't you hear she's _given up_ on our Harrykins. Besides, aren't you still dating that Dean bloke?"

Ginny smirked, "Actually Dean and I broke it off last week. He wanted me to go stay with him, but I told him that I would never be able to. He didn't seem to agree with my reasons, so I told him that if we couldn't agree then maybe we shouldn't see each other." She left out the part where he accused her of doing it in hopes that Harry would suddenly change his mind about her while spent the summer at the Burrow. This would only give the twins something more to rib her about. But Dean was being ridiculous at the time; she informed him that Harry was not to be visiting the Burrow until August, but he wouldn't hear it. Ironically, Dean had been right in one sense; she _was _about to spend the entire summer with Harry…alone.

Of course she would always _love_ Harry; but she had given up on that silly hope that he too felt something for her. They were friends now and that was all that had mattered.

"Yes 'gave up on him' isn't the same as getting over him. She's still madly in love with the boy." Fred added with a huge grin.

Ginny rolled her eyes at the twins, but inwardly she panicked. They had hit it right on the nose; was it really that obvious for everyone else to see? Her question was answered by her own blush betraying her. She cringed and looked down at her plate, hoping that they had not noticed.

"AHA!" Both twins cried in unison. They were enjoying this way too much. If her mother had not been standing two feet away, Ginny would have undoubtedly used her infamous bat bogey hex to make them wish that they had never breached the subject. She glared at them threateningly.

Before either of them could retort, Molly cut in sternly, "Enough boys. Your sister is under enough stress, you don't have to tease her." The twins grinned wickedly at Ginny one last time before turning their full attention back to their breakfast.

"Dear, would you like some help packing?" Her mother interjected a few minutes later.

"Actually I've already packed everything. I couldn't sleep, so I just got it over with." As she suspected, Fred and George jumped at the occasion to tease her once more.

"See, she's anxious to—"

But much to Ginny's pleasure, Ron walked in, yawning as he did and asked, "Mum, has Hermione gotten here yet?"

Fred and George's eyes glinted with mischief and Ginny rose from the table and said, "There, he's a more worthy candidate for your ribbing. He'll actually react much more satisfyingly." She grinned at the twins, and walked past Ron, patting him on the shoulder almost apologetically.

The hours seemed to fly by, and at around three pm, Hermione arrived. "Ginny! Ron's told me everything." Hermione looked concerned, but it was clear that she didn't want to make a big deal out of it.

"We'll try to find out as much about the prophecy as possible while we're at headquarters." Ron added this in a whisper so that only Ginny and Hermione could hear. They had now moved from the sitting room, where Mrs. Weasley was sitting.

Hermione looked a little disapproving at Ron's statement, but then nodded in agreement. "That's probably the best way to figure any of this out. Personally I can't believe they won't tell you. Didn't Dumbledore learn from his mistake with the _other _prophecy that it's not beneficial to anyone to keep it a secret?"

"Apparently not; Dumbledore knows what it says though, doesn't he? His name was on that prophecy too." Ron suddenly remembered.

"Do you think he told Harry?" Hermione's voice rose with a hint of excitement. They both turned to Ginny. "He's bound to tell you since you'll be with him every day."

"I suppose he would but, it's not like I can write--"

Hermione shook her head, "No, of course not. We wouldn't expect you to…just try to get him to talk things through. He might feel a little better. We all know how Harry gets, Ginny."

The rest of the day was spent with Ron and Hermione. They spent most of the day outside, until it was time for supper; the last decent meal Ginny would consume before she left to spend the rest of the summer at the Dursley's house. Much to Ginny's (as well as the rest of the Weasley's surprise), Percy showed up right after Arthur apparated back into the Burrow. If anyone had been paying attention, they would have seen not one, but two arrows on the enchanted clock rounding towards "home."

"Hello." Percy fidgeted awkwardly in the kitchen. Molly's eyes welled up with tears and she engulfed her estranged son in a bone crunching hug. Ron and the twins sat glaring at Percy, clearly not as forgiving as their parents were. Ginny didn't know how to react to this situation; she glanced at Hermione who looked just as shocked as the rest of the family.

"Hey Perce, what brings you home?" Ginny tried her best to sound indifferent. She knew there was no use in starting a fight with him, since she was soon leaving.

"Er…well, Dad told me about the prophecy, and how worried everyone was. I just…er—Look I'm sorry. To all of you. I've been such a prat, and I can't begin to explain how much regret I feel." His face turned red as he looked at each of them in turn.

Fred and George seemed to become less tense, but Ron, however didn't budge. Percy seemed to notice this too and pressed on, "Ron, I didn't mean anything I said about Harry. I was stupid; Fudge had us all believing--"

"Save it Perce, I don't want to hear it. Dad works for the ministry too, and you didn't see him doubting Harry." Ron excused himself from the dinner table and left the room. Hermione followed shortly after.

Ginny stood to do the same, but her mother, still silently crying, stopped her. "Hermione will take care of it Ginny, dear. You just enjoy your meal." She wanted to protest, but thought better of it; she would be leaving in less than an hour and her mother didn't need to be upset anymore today.

Ron eventually made his way back into the kitchen, due to Hermione's persuasion. The tension gradually evaporated from everyone else at the table, but Ron still seemed upset by the situation.

Before they knew it, it was seven, and Remus and Tonks arrived. "Ready to go Ginny?" Tonks asked.

Ginny nodded silently and then turned to each of her family members to say goodbye. She hugged all of them (including Percy); her mum was crying for the second time today and Ginny tried to think of comforting words to say but nothing came to her.

"Send our love to Harry, dear." Her mum said through her tears.

"Be careful mum, she might take that quite literally!" George grinned. Ginny smacked him playfully before she hugged both of the twins.

"Fred, George, isn't it time that both of you went home?" Her father stated with a tone of amusement. "We'll see you at Christmas, that is, if it's safe." He added to his only daughter, more seriously.

"Oi, Fred, they've got Percy back now, they don't need us anymore!" George said, elbowing his twin. They both ruffled Ginny's hair in turn, "We'll see you soon."

Ginny made it over to Ron and Hermione last; she hugged each of them and Hermione whispered, "Take care of Harry for us."

"Make sure you take care of Ron." Ginny replied to her friend.

She'd said goodbye to all of them, so now there was no more delaying. She turned to Remus and Tonks, "I'm ready." With one last look around the Burrow, Ginny took the portkey that Remus held out for her; he took hold of her trunk, and within seconds she felt the familiar jerk behind her navel, and the familiar room of the Burrow dissolved around her.


	3. And the Truth Comes Out

The Guardians

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these wonderful characters; they all belong to the magnificent J.K. Rowling. (Except for the original few that you'll be able to recognize yourselves!)

**Chapter 3: And The Truth Comes Out**

The next thing Ginny knew, Harry's room was forming around her. She had never been in it before, but still, it was rather obvious that it was his for many reasons. First, he had Gryffindor and Hogwarts banners hanging above his bed; this made her smile slightly. Second, he was sitting on his bed, looking very stressed and exhausted, taking the smile right from Ginny's face.

Not two seconds after she arrived, there were two simultaneous pops that signaled the arrival of Remus and Tonks. Remus was the first to speak, "Alright, Harry?"

"Fine. How are you?" Harry had giant circles under his eyes and it pained Ginny to see him like this. He always tried to cover up how he was truly feeling, yet it never fooled any of them.

"I've…been better." He smiled weakly at Harry as if to show that he wasn't alone.

Harry attempted to return the small gesture, but it wasn't as convincing. "Yeah, me too."

"Remus, we should probably be going…the meeting is going to start soon." Tonks interjected. She looked at him apologetically. "Take care of yourselves, won't you?" she added, to Harry and Ginny with a smile.

"If you need anything at all, don't hesitate to contact headquarters. There's going to be a guard near the house every day and night, so you will definitely be safe. We'll see you soon." Just as quickly as they had arrived, they were gone.

"I wonder what the meeting is supposed to be about." Ginny turned to Harry.

He looked at her, shrugging. "My guess would be the prophecy or should I say _prophecies._"

Ginny nodded, and tried to meet Harry's eyes, but he was looking at the floor now. "Harry," she began. She wanted to ask him if he had known anything about the contents of the prophecy about him, but she thought better of it. It wasn't any of her business, so she just hoped that maybe he would mention it over time. "How have you been?"

"Fine." Ginny raised her eyebrows and stared him down. He met her gaze and quickly looked away.

"Harry you are not _fine_, anyone could tell that by looking at you."

"You want the truth?" Harry's tone was harsher than she had expected, but she didn't let the surprise show on her face.

"Yes, I really do." She said, as she took a seat next to him on his bed.

"Horrible. I feel like there's this huge hole inside of me. It's the worst I've ever felt. This is so much different than losing my parents. I never _knew _them…but Sirius. I'd gotten to know him so much better over the last few years, and now he's—gone." He paused and then said in a much less audible voice, "It's all my fault, Ginny."

"How can it possibly be your fault?" It was not as if she was surprised at his statement, but the emotions that just spilled out of him were so hard to bear.

"You wouldn't understand. It's much more complicated than just Sirius' death."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I—No. Not now." It was evident how much pain it had caused him to say as much as he did so Ginny didn't press the matter. He had said "not _now"_ so there was a chance that he'd open up later.

"When you're ready to talk, I'll be here. I promise." It was almost silly of her to promise, because it was clear to both of them that they'd be spending a lot of time together. But the gesture was nice, she supposed. And she would wait, no matter how long it took him to talk.

"So er…Harry, where is your…family?" She used "family" for lack of a better word. The people Harry lived with were the farthest thing he had to family, as far as she was concerned.

"Out, thankfully. I told them you were coming tonight so they left earlier and haven't come back since. My useless cousin is out with his gang."

"How did they react to me staying here?" Ginny wanted to make sure she wasn't making life too much harder for Harry. She knew he had to put up with enough as it was.

"They were pretty much indifferent. My aunt was a _slightly _nicer than my uncle about the situation." He put emphasis on the word slightly, and Ginny knew that it must have been in the most insignificant amount possible. "How is your family?" Harry added.

"They're okay. They've just been really worried lately. About me, and you." She met his gaze this time and held it for a short while before she continued. "Percy came back around dinner time. He apologized to everyone, but Ron was still furious with him."

Harry raised his eyebrows, signaling her to continue. "It's because of what he said about you last year."

Harry replied bitterly, "I suppose he believes me now because the Ministry has finally opened their eyes." His voice softened as he added, "Now all I need to do is to get them to recognize Sirius' innocence; it's the least I could do in his memory. I owe it to him."

Ginny didn't know how to respond. She could see all of the pain reflected in his emerald green eyes and wished she could just magic all of his pain away; unfortunately it wasn't that easy.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts. "Er...I hope you don't mind but we are going to have to share this room." Harry said after the short pause.

"No, that's fine. I figured it would be like this. I wasn't expecting your aunt and uncle to be any more hospitable than they had to be. I'm sure my brothers would be _thrilled _to know that we were sharing a room, but I suppose you're just lucky they aren't here." She said with a grin.

Ginny caught the ghost of a real smile forming on Harry's face. "I'll be a gentleman though. You can have the bed and I'll sleep on the floor."

"Harry I couldn't do that. It's not like you wanted me here, I don't want to be a burden on you."

"Ginny, don't be ridiculous. I'm actually really happy you're here. It's nice to have company for a change. Besides, I don't really sleep much these days anyway. So the floor is just fine." Harry really tried to smile at her this time, and she couldn't argue with him anymore.

She returned the smile, "Thank you, Harry. I know how you feel though; about not sleeping."

"You still have nightmares?" He inquired.

"Every once in a while, but not as often as I used to. Whenever I do have the entire dream though, you always rescue me."

"At least I was able to save you. But apparently I can't be that lucky every time." His tone was dark again.

"Harry, it is _not_ your fault that Sirius is dead! _You _did not kill him; Bellatrix did. It's _her _fault, not yours. You need to stop blaming yourself…Sirius wouldn't have wanted it like this and you _know _that." Ginny said fiercely, her voice slowly rising.

"It _is _my fault. You wouldn't understand." Harry shot back.

"Try me." Ginny said flatly.

"I'd really rather not discuss it right now." He retorted more harshly than she had expected.

"Fine. I was just trying to help you, but I see you'd rather keep being miserable." She excused herself from the room to use the loo and get ready for bed.

A few minutes later she returned to the room. Harry had set up a makeshift bed for himself on the floor of his bedroom. "Look, Ginny. I'm sorry I acted that way. I just need time."

"I know. And I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have kept bothering you about it. Goodnight, Harry."

"Night, Gin." And with that they turned out the lights. Ginny had not realized how exhausted she had been until she put her head down on the pillow. Within minutes she was sound asleep. It wasn't long before she settled into an unfamiliar dream.

At first she didn't recognize where she was, but then upon looking around she understood. She was back in the Department of Mysteries room, in the death chamber; the veil was swaying eerily in the still air. Everyone else was there too; she saw Sirius dueling Bellatrix near the veil. When she turned to her left she spotted Harry, watching the duel nervously.

She attempted to call out to Harry, but he didn't hear her. She had no idea why she was here; because when the real event occurred, she wasn't in the room. So why now? Was this Harry's dream? He was reliving the events of the night Sirius was killed.

Even though she never saw what happened that night, she knew what was coming soon. Suddenly she turned back to face the veil, and saw Sirius laughing triumphantly as he taunted his cousin about missing. The thought of the inevitable made tears come to her eyes. She watched the jet of red light hit him square in the chest, which caused him to fall backwards into the veil, the laughter slowly fading from his face.

"NO!" She screamed, even though she knew that no one could hear her. Harry's voice sounded at the same time as hers; she spun around to watch him trying to run at Sirius' falling body, but Remus stopped him before he could make it there.

Ginny didn't want to see anymore. She tried to wake up, but it was as if she had to see it. She closed her eyes and tried desperately to concentrate on waking up, but when she opened them again, she was in Dumbledore's office. Harry was there too, and he was angrier than she had ever seen him; he was throwing Dumbledore's possessions left and right; they smashed to pieces. Dumbledore sat calmly, allowing Harry to destroy his office.

Dumbledore began talking to Harry as calmly as ever; there was not once ounce of anger in the old man's voice. Harry screamed at him as if he wasn't someone worth respecting, but Dumbledore did not get angry once. Dumbledore took out his penseive after a while, when Harry had noticeably calmed down. Ginny watched intently, and soon she saw a shadowy figure appeared above the stone basin. As she got closer she saw that the shadowy figure was a younger Professor Trelawney and she began to speak in a hoarse voice:

"THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD APPROACHES...BORN TO THOSE  
WHO HAVE THRICE DEFIED HIM, BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES...AND THE DARK  
LORD WILL MARK HIM AS HIS EQUAL, BUT HE WILL HAVE POWERS THE DARK LORD KNOWS NOT...AND EITHER MUST DIE AT THE HAND OF THE OTHER FOR NEITHER CAN LIVE WHILE THE OTHER SURVIVES...THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD  
WILL BE BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES..."

Ginny awoke instantly with a gasp, sitting straight up in bed. She had heard the prophecy that had been shattered only a few weeks before. Dumbledore had showed it to Harry and he never breathed a word of it to Ron or Hermione. She couldn't figure out why, and before she could give it much more thought, she was suddenly brought back to reality by Harry's voice on the floor. He was tossing and turning, moaning, and yelling out things like 'Sirius', and 'neither can live while the other survives', and 'murder or be murdered.'

Ginny jumped out of bed instantly, and knelt next to Harry. She began to shake him gently, "Harry, wake up! It's just a dream; it's over now!" She tried to say as soothingly as possible.

He finally began to stir, and he mumbled groggily, "I'm sorry I woke you."

"You didn't, my dream did; well actually _yours_ did. Harry I think we had the same dream, I have no idea _how _though."

"You mean you saw Sirius fall through the veil? And then Dumbledore's office?" He added the last bit almost reluctantly; as if not mentioning it would make it go away.

"Yes." She whispered.

"How is that possible? You weren't there when it happened. You weren't even in my dream. It was the same as it always is; just like that night." He asked, incredulously.

"I don't know. Harry, that was the prophecy, wasn't it? The one that smashed in the Department of Mysteries." She knew she didn't have to ask, but the words still haunted her; _neither can live while the other survives._

Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Yes...I knew I would have to tell you about this sooner or later; but I was hoping it would end up being later. Though I suppose it's much better that you found out this way. You got the real impact of it." His voice had a deadened tone to it as he spoke of this.

"But I don't understand. If Dumbeldore knew all along then why didn't he tell you?" She asked, puzzled.

Harry laughed harshly, "I've been wondering the same thing. Now I know that it has been my fault all along. If I wasn't born none of this would have happened. The Sorcerer's Stone, you in the Chamber of Secrets, Sirius wouldn't have been thrown in Azkaban to begin with, Wormtail wouldn't have had reason to betray my parents, my parents wouldn't have died, Cedric wouldn't have died, and Sirius wouldn't have died. Sirius' death was entirely my fault. I was so stupid to believe that dream! I should have listened to Hermione. She was right, I _do _have a hero complex."

Realization hit Ginny. This was what he meant when he told her she wouldn't understand why it was his fault. "Absolutely none of this is your fault. You were just doing what you thought was right at the time, because that's what your heart told you to do. That's what anyone would have done. No one blames you Harry, for _anything _that has happened in the last fifteen years. If you were never born then Voldemort would never have been defeated the first time. Many more people would have died. Don't you see? You gave the Wizarding World almost _fourteen years_ of peace! It's always been Voldemort's fault, and it always will be."

"But if I would have just used the mirror Sirius gave me, maybe he'd still be here." Harry put his head in his hands.

"Mirror? What are you talking about? You lost me." Ginny was confused now, she had never heard anything about a mirror.

Harry stood up and walked over to his school trunk. He opened it and reached in and took out a mirror that was broken into several pieces.

"Sirius gave me this right before we went back to Hogwarts after the Christmas holiday. It's a two way mirror. He had the other one, and told me that if I ever needed him for anything, to use it. I never opened it because I didn't want him leaving Grimmauld Place, and getting caught because of me. So I put it in the bottom of my trunk, forgetting about it for the remainder of the year. I only remembered it a few days after it was too late. But I still tried. I called his name into it just like his note told me. Of course it didn't work; I didn't really expect it to. I just hoped that it would. I threw it in my trunk after that and it shattered." His green eyes sparkled with unshed tears.

"Harry, that doesn't make it your fault. Maybe it would have happened anyway." She hated to say it, but she felt that it was the only way to convince him that he was wrong.

"Do you realize how many ways I could have prevented his death?" He continued without a response from her, "Had I put more effort into practicing Occlumency, Voldemort could never have tricked me into having that dream. If I would have just remembered that Snape was in the damn Order, he could have alerted them sooner; and then of course the mirror." The tears that he was trying so hard to suppress finally spilled out and he buried his head in his hands.

She couldn't bear watching his pain any longer; much to her surprise, she threw her arms around him and let him cry on her shoulder for as long as he needed. Neither were sure how long they remained like that, but once Harry was able to compose himself he pulled away slightly to look at her face, "Thanks Ginny. I really needed to get it out, and I'm really grateful to have you here right now. It's going to take me some time to rid myself of this guilt completely, but I promise I'm going to try."

"And I'll be here no matter what. Don't forget that." Ginny whispered; tears had been falling freely from her eyes now too; she hadn't noticed until now.

She tried to stifle a yawn, but it betrayed her and escaped anyway. "I'm really sorry for waking you up, Ginny. I'd say that I promise it won't happen again, but I don't think I'd be very good at keeping it." He gave her a weak half smile.

Ginny smiled in return, "Don't worry about it Harry. Like I told you, you didn't really wake me up, the _dream _did."

He looked at her, and the look in his eyes, was just for a moment, something other than sadness. He looked intrigued by this new mystery. "Do you think it's got something to do with that other prophecy?"

"Maybe, but how can we be sure? And what does it have to do with you? I mean, it was _your _dream that I was in. That has never happened to me before. At least, I really don't think so." She tried to stifle another yawn again.

"Ah…we'll discuss this in the morning. Goodnight Ginny, and thanks again."

"Anytime, Harry. Sleep well." And much to her surprise (and even more to Harry's) she kissed him on the cheek. They both blushed furiously and Ginny quickly climbed back into Harry's bed as he settled himself once more into his pile of blankets on the floor.


	4. Meet the Dursley's

The Guardians

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these wonderful characters; they all belong to the magnificent J.K. Rowling. (Except for the original few that you'll be able to recognize yourselves!)

**Chapter Four: Meet the Dursleys**

Harry woke up fairly early the next morning; he looked over at Ginny and she was still sound asleep. He didn't want to wake her so he quietly grabbed clean clothes and headed for the shower. When he walked back into the room fifteen minutes later, Ginny was sitting up in bed, the _Daily Prophet_ in hand. Harry assumed what she was reading wasn't anything really worth her time because her mouth was set in a frown.

" What's wrong?" Ginny jumped at the sound of his voice.

"Harry, you scared me! How did you sleep for the remainder of the night?" She had ignored his question and Harry was not going to let that go unnoticed. Ginny on the other hand, hoped that he would; for she attempted to surreptitiously put the _Daily Prophet_ behind her.

"What were you reading? You didn't seem too pleased with it, judging by the look on your face." He watched her face carefully; she chewed her lip, as if debating whether she should tell him or not.

"You aren't going to like it, Harry." She said shaking her head, as she slowly retrieved the _Prophet_ from behind her back.

"I wouldn't doubt that. I never really do more than skim it these days, because there hasn't been anything too important as of late. But if it's upset you, I'd like to see." He sat at the end of the bed, waiting patiently for her to concede. The _Prophet's_ news was pretty accurate in comparison to the previous year, but Harry only read the articles when the headlines caught his eye; he was mainly trying to monitor the murders. It bothered him how many pointless killings were going on when he was the only one Voldemort really wanted.

"Well then, I've just skimmed it for you. Nothing of importance!" Ginny was stubborn; Harry had been warned of that many times by her brothers. But he'd never had to deal with it directly before now.

He really had hoped it wouldn't have to come to this, but before she had time to react he lunged towards her quickly and grabbed the paper from her hands. He chuckled in triumph at the bewildered look upon her face and walked to the other side of the room, so that she wouldn't try to take it from him before he finished reading the article in question.

He scanned the page that was still folded open and it wasn't long before he was able to figure out which article it was that had upset her. The smile died from his face within seconds of reading it.

"I _told _you." Ginny said desolately.

Harry reseated himself on the end of the bed and said bitterly, "My personal favorite part of that article was, '_Mr. Lucius Malfoy has generously donated a large sum of money to the Ministry upon his release from Azkaban. Malfoy was quoted as saying, 'It was the least I could do to show my gratitude to Minister Fudge for acquitting me of those ghastly charges that I was wrongfully accused of just a few short weeks ago.''"_ Harry threw the paper to the ground.

"I'm so sorry Harry. This isn't worth getting angry over. Nothing involving the Malfoys is worth your time. He'll get what's coming to him, you _know _that" Ginny sounded sincere, and he knew she was right. It was just so hard to just put it out of his head. Lucius Malfoy was there that night, and there were so many witnesses.

"It's just that it's so obvious that the money was given to the Ministry _before _he was released. That's the only way he would ever be _acquitted_. That or if Voldemort decided to take over the Ministry himself." Harry and Ginny both shivered at the thought of this.

"You don't think…"

"Anything is possible, Ginny. But no, I don't think he has…yet. I believe that if Voldemort had decided to do that, he'd let the world know. He's still lying low right now. But I don't think it's going to be for too much longer." Harry said grimly.

Ginny's eyes widened in fear. "You've got to stop him before he gets to that point. Well, I mean of course you won't be alone." She had reached over to give his hand a reassuring squeeze.

"But I _do _have to do it alone. It's me or him, Ginny. That's what the prophecy said. I'm not going to risk anyone else's lives by letting them get involved." He'd already lost too much; he wasn't going to put the rest of the people he cared about in danger because of his destiny. Ron, Hermione, Ginny, the rest of the Weasleys, Remus; everyone he ever knew. There was no way he was going to put them at risk.

"Harry, stop being so ridiculous. You know _damn well_ that none of my family; _your _family will ever let you go through this alone." Her chocolate brown eyes fixed him with a piercing gaze.

He smiled in spite of himself. "Thank you, Ginny." He had to hand it to her; she really had a knack for making him feel better. Strangely, she had understood him better than he ever would have given her credit for. It was easy to talk to her about his deepest fears; just as easy, or maybe even easier than talking to Ron and Hermione. She _listened _to him, whereas Hermione would try to make him see it her way before he even got the chance to explain himself entirely.

"So," She began, breaking through his reverie, "do I get to meet your _lovely _aunt and uncle today?"

"Unfortunately, yes." He looked at her apologetically. "But, you don't really have to talk to them. I just figured it'd be best if I at least introduced you to them. Then we can come back up here and er…figure out what to do with the rest of our day." He hated that they were going to be locked up for the entire summer. It was one thing for him to be here, because, although he hated to admit it, he'd become used to the monotony of Privet Drive. But Ginny was so accustomed to spending her summers at the Burrow where she was able to go outside and enjoy the fresh air as much as she pleased.

"And your cousin?" Ginny added.

"If he's still home, then yes. But I assure you, you won't be missing out on much if you don't meet him." He grinned at her. "And I should warn you; they aren't very polite, so I apologize in advance to any rude things they may say or do; that is if they say anything at all. Try not to take any of it personally."

"Don't worry, I won't."

About an hour later, after Ginny had taken a shower, the two made their way downstairs to the kitchen where Petunia, Vernon and Dudley Dursley were sitting and enjoying their morning tea and breakfast.

As expected, Dudley's piggy eyes were staring at the television as if in a trance; Uncle Vernon's large face was buried behind his newspaper; and Aunt Petunia was standing near the window, peering undoubtedly, into the neighbor's yard. Just as Harry had expected, not one of them acknowledged that he and Ginny had entered the kitchen. Harry cleared his throat to get their attention.

"Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, Dudley, this is my friend, Ginny." Still, none of them looked in their direction. Harry was beginning to get aggravated, and was wondering why he was wasting his time, but decided to wait a tiny bit longer.

Uncle Vernon had grumbled what Harry assumed to be his version of a greeting. And Aunt Petunia, being as nosy as she was, turned around to look at them; she did a double take, quickly and without warning screamed at the top of her lungs.

"What's wrong Petunia?!" Uncle Vernon spluttered, looking bewilderedly at his wife, "You look like you've just seen a ghost!"

"I _thought_ I did!" Aunt Petunia said shakily, her face was white as a sheet.

"What..." Uncle Vernon didn't finish; he looked up at Harry and Ginny and judging by the look of shock on his now purpling face, seemed to understand instantly what his wife was so frightened.

Ginny looked at Harry with a puzzled expression. Harry grabbed Ginny's hand, and said "Come on, I'll explain to you upstairs." He wasn't sure whether to be amused or disgusted with their behavior; but one look at Dudley made the decision for him. Dudley had not moved his eyes from the television once; he was completely oblivious to what was going on around him. Harry fought back his urge to grin, and looked back at the Dursleys one last time before they left the room and said, "That's a really nice way to treat a guest."

When Harry and Ginny were safely inside Harry's room he apologized on his aunt and uncle's behalf; "I'm really sorry for their rudeness. They have an extraordinary ability to be overly dramatic."

"That's alright. Is your aunt going to be okay? What on earth was she screaming about?" Harry laughed at Ginny's genuinely concerned expression.

"It's just like she said, she thought she saw a ghost. Or two." He chuckled again, at the still highly confused Ginny. Apparently, he'd need to explain a little bit more. He walked over to his Hogwarts trunk and rummaged through it for a moment until he found what he was looking for. He handed Ginny the leather-bound photo album that Hagrid had given him back in his first year. "Look through here, and you'll see what I mean."

Ginny opened the book and as she saw the first picture, realization seemed to hit her. She looked up at Harry with a huge smile on her face. "She thought we were your parents!"

"Yes. She only glanced at us quickly at first. I suppose without taking in the obvious differences, we must have appeared to be them for a split second." He was surprised at how much he was laughing today.

The same thought must have occurred to Ginny, "Harry if this is what it takes to get you in a good mood, we should torment your aunt and uncle more often!"

"I believe you just read my mind, Miss Weasley. Have you been practicing Legilimency?!" He said with mock awe.

"Why, Mr. Potter, does that frighten you?" She raised an eyebrow at him mysteriously. "Are you having thoughts that you _shouldn't _be?" He knew she was only teasing him but he blushed profusely. He could have given her a run for her money with the color that his face turned. It was contagious though, and Harry quickly took back that thought as he watched Ginny's face turn the exact same shade of red as her roots. She definitely beat him.

In what he figured was an attempt to change the subject, Ginny continued to look through the photos, and stopped for a minute on Harry's favorite one.

"That's my favorite one. It's the _only _one I have of him." Harry swallowed the lump that was suddenly forming in his throat. He couldn't believe the pace at which his emotions were shifting in the last few minutes.

She smiled at him kindly and then, to Harry's relief she purposely drew the topic away from Sirius, "Where did you get this?"

"Hagrid gave it to me at the end of my first year. He said he collected pictures from friends of theirs. I'm sure most of them came from Remus."

"I'm sure we can find more pictures of him if you wanted...you should ask Remus next time you talk to him. They probably just didn't want you asking too many questions at the time, you know considering the circumstances." She suggested.

"You're probably right."

"I usually am." She said with a smug grin on her face.

Harry rolled his eyes and laughed. He was sure that it was Ginny's presence that was slowly drawing him out of his misery. He was extremely grateful, more than she would ever know, that she was here with him.

When they were finished looking through all of the photos, Ginny asked a little apprehensively. "Er...so what is there to do now?"

Harry grimaced, "I was afraid you were going to ask that soon. Not that much." He looked out the window. It was a gorgeous day and he longed for the fresh air.

But, Harry had to admit that in a way, the time spent at the Dursleys was going to be slightly better than summer. After all he did have company in his least favorite place, at the hardest time in his life. He would have preferred being at the Burrow, but anywhere was better than Grimmauld Place. Harry didn't think he would ever be able to bear setting foot in that house again. It would have been different if Sirius didn't despise the place when he was still alive, but taking that into consideration just made it all the more harder to even think about ever going back.

Harry shook himself out of his thoughts when he heard a tapping on the window. "Pig!" Ginny shouted excitedly. She rushed to the window to let Ron's tiny, jittery owl in. The sun glinted off her hairs as stood near the window untying the letter from Pig's leg. Harry was amazed at just how many shades of red her hair contained. He mentally kicked himself at this thought and turned his attention back to the letter Ginny was hurriedly opening.

She pulled out a small piece of parchment and her excitement slowly disappeared from her face turning into sorrow. "It's just mum," she said, "she's checking up on us. All it says, is '_Hope you're safe.'_ I suppose she can't say too much."

"They're all right, Gin." Harry said reassuringly.

She smiled at him, and sighed, "I know, but I can't help but worry. It's horrible not knowing what's going on." Catching sight of the look on his face she quickly said, "I really understand what you were going through last year. And I haven't even been here a full day yet."

"It's not as bad now, since you're here. You've been really great at keeping my mind off things, whether you realize it or not."

The rest of the day seemed to pass quickly. Harry and Ginny talked for hours and it was then that Harry really got to know Ginny; she was no longer just Ron's little sister. The two shared stories about each of their lives.

"One time I got _so _angry at Fred and George, because they told mum that I had been sneaking out to the broom shed to ride their brooms. So instead of telling on them for the multiple things that they did, I snuck into their room at night, took Fred's wand and turned their hair purple. Mum couldn't figure out how to reverse it for _weeks._" She was laughing, still clearly proud of what she had done.

"So," She added, "Tell me about you. I mean, sure I've read about you in books, but I'd rather hear it from _you_." She smiled at him and despite the fact that he would much rather not talk about his past he decided to give in.

He was surprised at how easy it was to talk to Ginny about even the most painful of subjects. She insisted that he start at the beginning, so he did just that. He told her how it was much more miserable, living with the Dursleys for the first eleven years of his life; for things did not begin to look up for Harry until Hagrid came with the most life changing news of Harry's entire existence. He recounted his first year for her, because he knew that she had not heard all of the details. It amused him to see the genuine fright in her eyes when he recalled his adventure with Ron and Hermione through the trap door.

All of this talking of Ron and Hermione had sent a pang of sorrow through him. He really missed them; more than he had any other summer that they were separated. He couldn't be sure why, but he thought that it may have had something to do with Ginny being there. It wasn't _bad _that she was there, of course, but it was so much different than Ron and Hermione. He hadn't told them all that Ginny now knew; and he knew he would have to. He was so afraid of what they would think.

He shook himself out of his reverie, "That was my first year; and of course you know all about my second year so I really don't have to go into that." He didn't want to upset her by bringing up her old demons.

Ginny seemed to have shivered slightly at the reminder, but then quickly shook herself out of it. "Are you alright? You look like something's bothering you; I'm really sorry if talking about all of this has upset you…"

She looked guilty, but Harry had to quickly jump to correct her, "No, it's not that at all. Talking about all of that has made me realize just how much I miss Ron and Hermione." It was so easy being honest with her, no matter how much he'd rather keep it to himself.

"I miss everyone too. But before we know it, we'll be going back to Hogwarts." She squeezed his hand gently, "Now, tell me about your third year!" Her eyes widened a little bit before Harry got a chance to begin; he looked at her in confusion. "Oh, unless you don't…"

"It's fine, I really don't mind." He began by telling her his first encounter with Sirius (as Padfoot, or rather when Harry was convinced that Sirius was a death Omen in the form of the Grim); then about his struggle with the dementors and how Remus helped him overcome it; and then of course the night in the Shrieking Shack when Sirius was almost set free.

"That was one of the happiest days of my life." Harry recalled. "He asked me to live with him then; I thought I was leaving here for good. But Wormtail shattered that dream…" It was bittersweet to think about, even now. First Wormtail took that opportunity away from him; then Bellatrix.

"I'm so sorry that my family had taken care of him for all those years." Ginny looked disgusted with herself; the look on her face reminded Harry of Ron's reaction when he found out what Scabbers really was. He laughed at the resemblance. "What's so funny?"

"The look on your face was strikingly similar to Ron's when he found out." He smiled wickedly.

She smacked him playfully and steered the conversation away from her similarity to her brother, "So you thought Sirius was the Grim?"

Harry laughed. "Well, at first I just thought he was a really creepy dog; but then dear old Trelawney told me that the Grim was after me. And then whenever I saw him after that I was convinced." He shook his head, still laughing. "But, if I had known what she really was capable off--"

"BOY!" He was abruptly cut off by Aunt Petunia's shrill voice.

Harry rolled his eyes, "I'll be back in a second."

When Harry opened his bedroom door, Petunia was waiting at the foot of the stairs. He couldn't imagine what she could possibly want but he did know that she wasn't about to apologize for her outburst this morning.

"Vernon and I are going out for the evening, and Dudders is spending the night at the Polkiss' house. We won't be home until late. You can go anywhere you want in the house, EXCEPT the attic." She informed him sternly.

He was puzzled by this instruction, "Er...okay, but--"

"DON'T ask any questions!" With that, she turned on her heels and left his sight.

Harry couldn't imagine why the attic was off limits, and why she would ever think he would go up there in the first place. It wasn't as if he ever attempted to in the past. Now that Aunt Petunia had said it though, it was a different story; he was very curious about what was in the attic that she was trying to hide.

"Did you hear all of that Gin?" Harry asked her.

"Yes. Are you ready to explore the attic then?" She said grinning mischievously.

Harry laughed, "You're a bad influence, Ginny Weasley. We'll have to wait until they leave though."

"Oh, as if you weren't going to do it _anyway!_"

Harry gave her a mock hurt expression, "I have _no idea_ what you're talking about. _Me _do something I'm not supposed to do? I can't believe you'd accuse _Harry Potter_ of breaking the rules." His eyes glinted playfully at her.

"I'm _sorry_. How could I ever do such a thing!"

The two waited with their ears pressed to the bedroom door for ten minutes, until they heard the door slam and then the car start, and pull away.

"Come on, they're gone." Ginny said pulling Harry out of the room.

"It's this door." He said, leading Ginny to the attic. During the entire time that Harry had lived at number four, he had not set foot in the attic once. He had never wanted to until now, and he had a feeling that this is what his aunt wanted to. He couldn't imagine _why _but maybe there were answers up here.

"You first." Ginny said.

Harry led the way up the stairs, and when they got into the large room it was as organized as the rest of the house. Each box was stacked neatly; they were all labeled, giving a relative idea of what was inside.

"How about you start over there, and I'll start here. Do we have any idea what we're looking for?" She said the last bit almost apprehensively, and Harry realized that he hadn't really had a chance to give much thought to that in the last fifteen minutes.

"Er...well no. But how about we read what is written on the boxes and if anything seems interesting, we'll open them." He suggested.

Ginny nodded her head in agreement and immediately turned to a stack of boxes and began examining them and Harry quickly did the same.

Harry coughed as he moved a particularly large, and dusty box labeled "Dudley's baby clothes." He sighed, looking at his watch; nearly an hour passed and they hadn't been successful. "Ginny, I'm sorry I made you come up here. There probably isn't anything of value around here." Harry said; he realized that he sounded much more disappointed than he would have thought. After all, it wasn't like he was looking for anything specific.

"No, there has to be something; otherwise your aunt wouldn't have said anything. Look Harry, I bet she did it on purpose so that you would come up here. There is probably something up here that she wanted you to see and just that she didn't want to show you herself. I'm not giving up until I find something." She said, pushing a lock of fiery red hair behind her ear, and began looking through the boxes again.

Harry couldn't help but laugh at her. She seemed so determined to find something that might not actually exist. She was right though; he too had been thinking that his aunt put the idea in his head on purpose. But if Ginny was so determined, maybe she was onto something; maybe she had an idea of what they were looking for.

"What?" she asked him. She must have seen him glancing at her with a look of suspicion on his face.

As was usual these days, Harry was resigned to telling her what was on his mind, "You're on to something, aren't you?"

"I just thought maybe it was something of your mother's, since your aunt might have been reminded of it with this morning's outburst." She said quietly, still sifting through stacks of boxes. "Or..." she looked at him again, smiling with a look of satisfaction. "This." She added, holding up a small, old, brown box.

"What is it?" He asked her excitedly.

Ginny smiled again, making Harry get odd butterflies in his stomach; he had no idea what her presence was doing to him these days. He wouldn't let himself admit it; she was Ron's younger sister, even though they had become very good friends in the past few days.

Ginny walked over to him and pointed to what was written on the side of the box. Harry couldn't believe his eyes, which instantly lit up with excitement, "Why would they keep anything of mine?"

"I'm not sure." Ginny whispered. "Go on, open it." She encouraged anxiously.

Harry took a deep breath, and lifted the lid off the small box. The first thing Harry saw in the box was a blue baby blanket. He picked it up and he felt like he was having a flash back. He knew it was from the night his parents were killed; he was wrapped in it and left on the Dursley's doorstep. He closed his eyes and tried to remember better, he wanted to see before that night. To see his parents. But he knew he couldn't, people just couldn't remember back that far. It wasn't possible, at least without the dementors. He felt the tears form in his eyes, and he couldn't control it when they slipped out silently.

He felt Ginny put her hand on his arm, and he opened his eyes again, and took a deep breath, and looked at her.

"This fell out of the blanket when you picked it up..." she said handing him a folded piece of parchment.

Harry turned over the parchment, to see his name written in a familiar handwriting that he would recognize anywhere. He took a shaky breath and looked at Ginny, "I-I...don't think I can read this now. It's from..."

"Oh..." Ginny said quickly raising a hand to wipe her own tears away.

Harry looked at what was left in the box. There was a pair of the same color blue baby pajamas and an envelope that was already torn open. The neat script was in emerald green ink and also in a familiar handwriting that Harry would know anywhere. Suddenly he remembered the words of Dumbledore's howler from the previous summer: 'REMEMBER MY LAST PETUNIA!' Those words echoed in his head as he stared down at the old piece of parchment.

'_This must be what he meant then, his last letter, his last warning.'_ Harry thought to himself. He wanted to read it but was afraid that Dumbledore may have told them about the prophecy for some reason. If they knew all this time, Harry's anger at Dumbledore would be renewed, and he knew he didn't need that right now so he would put off reading the letter for a little longer. He put the two letters back in the box and then replaced the pajamas and blanket on top of them.

"Harry, er...maybe we should come back to this another day." Ginny suggested. He was grateful to how intuitive she was to his emotions.

He nodded his head in compliance, "But can we continue looking for what you originally thought was up here?"

She looked at him concern written all over her face, "If you really want to, then of course we will." They each returned to their set of boxes to continue their search.

Within a few minutes Ginny turned with a larger box in her arms, "Wow, that was a lot easier than I expected. You would think that if she didn't want you to find them, she would have put them in separate places." Ginny said happily.

Harry walked over to where Ginny was, to see a box labeled "Lily." He grinned, "You're amazing Ginny!"

She blushed, "This one is a lot bigger than yours. Oh, and it's heavy!" She began lifting it but Harry took it from her.

Harry put the box down where he and Ginny were standing and they both sat down on either side of it. He didn't what affect the contents of this box were going to have on him, but he had to look in it now that it was found.

The first thing in the box was a black book with the Hogwarts crest and the words 'Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Class of 1977' on the cover.

"This is their year book!" Harry said excitedly. Ginny moved closer so she could see. Harry skipped a large portion of pages so he can get to the Gryffindor section. But all of a sudden Harry heard a car door slam and he looked at Ginny. The two didn't need to say anything; they knew that they had to quickly put everything back where they found it.

They jumped up and started moving the boxes as quickly as they could. As soon as the boxes were back in place, they went down the attic stairs as quickly and as quietly as possible, tiptoeing into Harry's room.

"That was close…" Ginny said sitting on Harry's bed, catching her breath.

"We should have brought the Invisibility Cloak up there with us. Now we know for next time."

"Same time tomorrow; that is, if they aren't home?" Ginny suggested, grinning impishly.

"Yeah." Harry replied with a matching smile. The prospect of seeing something that belonged to his mother made him extremely anxious; but he knew that he couldn't risk going up there again until the house was empty of the rest of its inhabitants. He just hoped that it was as soon as possible.


	5. Back to the Attic

The Guardians

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these wonderful characters; they all belong to the magnificent J.K. Rowling. (Except for the original few that you'll be able to recognize yourselves!)

**Chapter 5: Back to the Attic**

Harry and Ginny were not able to venture up to the attic until about a week after their previous trip; however, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were still in the house. They were both fast asleep in their bedroom; but the two teens were as quiet as possible nevertheless. They also had the invisibility cloak securely around both of them just in case.

"We have to be really quiet, so they don't hear us at all." Harry said very seriously. He knew if his aunt and uncle or even Dudley for that matter, heard even the slightest creak of the floorboards, they would come to investigate. Ever since Aunt Petunia had told them not to go in the attic she looked at the pair of them suspiciously whenever they left Harry's room.

It was difficult for both of them to walk up the stairs with the invisibility cloak on, but they managed to get up the stairs without making much noise. Harry pulled the cloak off when they reached the top of the stairs. "_Lumos_." They whispered in unison and instantly the tips of both of their wands lit up the attic. Harry turned to Ginny, holding his wandlight in her direction; he noticed that her cheeks were faintly pink but she looked away from his face quickly. They made their way over to where the two boxes still sat.

Harry set the box down in a clear space, and they both took seats on either side of it. He removed the yearbook and set it aside for further examination; first he wanted to see what else was in the box. The next item was a doll with red hair and a pointed witch's hat.

Ginny giggled. "That's so cute. Do you think your mum was into magic before she even knew she was a witch?"

"Maybe" Harry said, wondering the same thing as he set the doll down next to the yearbook. He reached in again and took out a slightly tarnished silver box. Harry squinted in the dim light of the wands to see that there was something engraved on it. As he looked at it closely, he realized that it was a lily flower. He handed it to Ginny so she could see it.

Ginny took it and looked at it, "Er...Harry, can I open it?"

"Oh, yeah!" he exclaimed. "I didn't even think about that."

Ginny turned her attention back to the silver box, "It's beautiful." She said in awe as she peered at what was within the jewelry box.

Harry too looked within the box to see a silver necklace with an emerald heart encircled with tiny diamonds; it was very beautiful.

"Slytherin colors though..." Harry muttered.

"Yes, but it matched your mother's eyes. Why do you think Petunia has these things?" Ginny whispered, curiosity written all over her face.

Harry had not given much thought to this; although he didn't understand _why _she had kept them, it still made sense to him why she had a box with his things in it. But from what Harry had always known, Petunia despised Lily. So why on earth would she have a box of Lily's belongings? Not to mention that the contents of the box (so far) had been very much random; things from Hogwarts; things from her childhood; jewelry.

"I don't know." He finally murmured in reply.

After a few minutes of silence, Harry asked Ginny, "Is there anything else in that jewelry box?"

"A Head Girl Badge and a Prefect's badge." She replied as she handed the two things to Harry, who turned them over in his hands and then replaced them once more in the box that Ginny still held.

Harry reached into dusty box once more to take out the last of its contents. He took out two very similar red leather bound books that were the exact same size.

"What are they?" Ginny asked leaning closer, to have a better look.

"Summer diaries...this one is from years one through four. And this one is from years five through seven." He said reading the front covers aloud. "I wonder why she only wrote in them during the summer holidays."

"Interesting…I suppose she was a lot like Hermione and studied too much, not having any time for anything else during school." Ginny said grinning.

Harry laughed, "The only way to find out is to read them. But I don't think we should right now. Let's take this stuff downstairs to my room and we'll look through it all tomorrow."

"Harry..." Ginny began apprehensively. "Maybe you should tell your aunt that you know about all of this. What if she comes up here and sees that it's missing?"

He knew she was right, but he didn't have much of a desire to talk to his aunt about something like this, but he knew he had to. After all, if she hated his mother so much, she should be glad to be rid of all of it. "You're right. I'll try talking to her tomorrow, but if she doesn't agree to me keeping all of this, then we're taking it." He said with finality.

Ginny nodded in agreement, "Now let's look at this yearbook, shall we?" She pulled the dusty yearbook off the floor and put it between them.

Harry flipped the book to the Gryffindor section, and the first set of pictures they saw were individual pictures of each Gryffindor student with their name written below it. He scanned the faces, and within seconds, they were saring into the face of a much younger, happier, but still much the same, as he was, Sirius Black. He had the same smile and the same mischievous glint in his grey eyes. Every few minutes the picture Sirius would wink at them. This made both Harry and Ginny laugh, but they stopped quickly, not wanting to make too much noise.

They flipped a few more pages and spotted Lily, thanks to her vivid red hair. Not only was her name written below the picture, but Head Girl was written as well. She was smiling brightly, her Head Girl badge glinting. Harry also recognized the emerald heart pendant she had around her neck.

He turned the page and saw Remus, smiling with a similar mischievous glint in his eyes. It wasn't quite as obvious as Sirius' but it was there. He had faint scars across his face, but he still looked happier than Harry had ever seen him. It almost made him sad to see how happy they all were before their lives were turned upside down.

On the opposite page, Harry was looking for his dad's picture but first he came across one that he would rather have skipped. His face darkened, and Ginny noticed this; she squeezed his hand lightly.

He suddenly wondered when it was that Wormtail had turned traitor. Was it before this picture was taken? Or shortly after? Either way, it didn't much matter when; just that he did in fact betray his so-called best friends. Still, Harry looked at the picture of the seventeen year old Peter Pettigrew and saw that he too looked genuinely happy. He silently decided that Peter had not yet deceived them.

He sighed and continued to look at the pictures and soon enough he found his father with hair just like his own, sticking out at all ends. He looked very proud, wearing his Head Boy badge. The mischievous look in James' eyes was identical to that of Sirius'. Harry could tell that his father had definitely grown up from the memory of the Marauder's in their 5th year, that Harry had witnessed in Snape's office just a few short months ago.

Ginny yawned, "Sorry...go on, turn the page."

"No, we can finish tomorrow. Come on, let's go."

Harry draped the cloak over himself and Ginny and they quietly made their way down the stairs. He opened the door to his bedroom, careful that it didn't creak and stopped abruptly in the entrance. His face paled, "Not now. Not _here._"

"Harry...what--" Ginny bumped into Harry, unprepared for his sudden stand still. He pulled the invisibility cloak off of the two of them and as Ginny moved from behind him she understood.

The whole room was bathed in green light. Harry was staring out the window at its source. It was huge and could definitely be seen for miles. His fists clenched and he gripped hi wand tightly in his right one.

"The Dark Mark..." Ginny whispered in a voice so unlike herself.

"It's a few blocks away...but there aren't any other wizards around here besides me...and you. At least not that I know of. They must be torturing muggles for pleasure…" He said this all distractedly. He was tryinhg to form a plan in his head; he wanted to find the house where it was directly centered over. He knew that Ginny would never let him go, especially alone. If she did comply, then she would insist on going with him, and he couldn't let her.

Harry glanced over at Ginny to weigh his options and all of his thoughts of investigating were driven away as he saw the tortured expression on her face.

"The Order is probably already taking care of it. There's someone on duty here at all times, remember?" He couldn't be entirely sure that this was true; after all, the previous year had proved that having a guard nearby was not always foolproof. He still wanted to find out for himself, but he knew this was very reckless and that the Order wouldn't approve.

He then quickly decided to go the safer route, "Gin, do you have floo powder? I'm going to try and contact headquarters."

"In my trunk." She went and retrieved it for him, taking out a pouch and went to hand it to him, but she pulled it away quickly, "You're not going downstairs are you? What if someone is..." she trailed off.

She was right, but he didn't want to feed her fear anymore so he tried once more to sound confident, "If someone was in here, I think we would know already. Stay here, I'll be back soon."

"No. I'm coming with you. I'm perfectly capable of fighting Death Eaters. I was there last year, in case you've forgotten." She said harshly, sounding more like herself.

"I know. That's not what I meant. Forget it, just come on." And with that they went down to the dark sitting room together. "_Incendio_." Harry muttered, pointing his wand at the empty fireplace; it immediately roared to life and he threw the floo powder into it, making the normal orange-red flames turn to bright green.

"Number twelve, Grimmauld Place." He said into the flames; his head began to spin rapidly, but then it came to a stop and he was looking into the dingy, but very familiar kitchen of his late godfather's home. The Order members must have known about the attack because many of the members were gathered around the large rectangular table, talking frantically, many of them still wearing their pajamas.

"Hello Potter, I see you've noticed the Dark Mark as well?" Moody growled. Harry assumed his magical eye had noticed him, because the former Auror was not looking in Harry's direction.

"Er…yes. I was just making sure that you all knew about it." Harry was slightly relieved.

"It's being taken care of. Tonks, Shacklebot, and a few other Auror's are there. I was just about to go there myself." He said standing up, and he began limping towards the kitchen door.

"Harry, we'll check in with you two in the morning and fill you in on the details." Remus told him. "I'm begging you Harry, _do not _leave that house."

"We won't." He wasn't about to admit that he had given serious thought to checking out the scene himself. He pulled his head from the fire and turned to Ginny who was sitting on the sofa, anxiously awaiting news. He told her the small bit of information that Moody had given him.

"They'll be by tomorrow to explain everything. We might as well try and get some sleep now." He led the way back up to their room where they both took a seat on his bad. "Are you okay, Gin?"

"I'm fine. I just wasn't expecting something like this to happen. Do you think they were looking for us?" Her voice was just above a whisper.

"That's the only reason I've come up with." Voldemort's, or at least the Death Eaters proximity only a few short hours ago was terrifying. Had he figured out where Harry and Ginny were hiding, or was it merely a coincidence?

"We really should try and get some sleep." Harry said glancing at the clock; it was now 3 am and he was beginning to feel how tired he actually was. He stood up and was about to go to his makeshift bed, but Ginny put her hand on his arm and stopped him. "Harry...er...can you...can you stay with me until I fall asleep?" She stammered. He wasn't certain because it was dark except for the still bright eerie green light, but he thought he saw a blush beginning to form on her face.

"Er…sure, no problem."

She looked away from him and busied herself with fixing the pillow before she finally lay down on one side of the small bed. Shortly after Harry too lay down and she moved slightly closer to him. He hesitated, but decided to put an arm around her protectively.

After a few short minutes she was breathing evenly and Harry was about to get up, but she mumbled, "I'm not sleeping yet." Harry laughed quietly but decided to stay with her a little while longer even though he was exhausted and knew he'd fall asleep. He knew he couldn't fight being tired; his eyes began slowly to close and before he knew it he was fast asleep, his arm still around Ginny. And a little while longer turned into all night, into mid morning.

~*~*~*~

"Shh! You'll wake them." Remus scolded Tonks, although he too was unable to keep his laughter down. As promised, he and Tonks came to fill Harry and Ginny in on the details of the previous night's attack. But catching them sleeping next to each other made Tonks erupt into peals of laughter, triggering Remus to do the same.

"I'm sorry, but it's so cute. They're going to be so embarrassed when they wake up and see us here." Tonks replied still laughing.

Remus groaned. He agreed that it would be amusing, but he knew how they would feel and he would rather avoid the situation if he could; but that wasn't really an option right now.

"Well let's get this over with then!" Tonks said cheerfully. She began walking over to the bed, but tripped on a loose floorboard; a horribly loud _crash _accompanied Tonk's ungraceful fall to the ground. Remus sighed as he knelt down to help her up.

Harry jumped up bewilderedly, "Bloody hell!"

"Harry, why are you yelling?" Ginny mumbled, her eyes fluttering open. She sat up looking at Harry confused. As she turned her head, her eyes widened. She looked from Harry who was still sitting on the bed next her, to Tonks (who had regained her balance), and Remus who were both standing by the window, still trying to stifle their laughter. Ginny turned bright red, as Remus had come to recognize as a general Weasley trait.

Harry seemed to have just comprehended the awkwardness of the situation, and he too turned red. Remus stared expectantly at the two, waiting for an explanation or at least a greeting. When he realized that they weren't about to receive either, he cleared his throat, "Good morning. I'll assume that both of you slept well after last night's scare?" He grinned in spite of himself, and beside him Tonks snorted.

"Er…what exactly happened last night?" Harry, still red, was obviously intent on changing the subject. Remus was fine with that, but Tonks on the other hand was not going to let them get away easy.

"We could ask _you _the same question!" She said gleefully.

It was very, very hard for him not to laugh. But he proceeded without acknowledging Tonk's jest at the two teenagers and continued more seriously, "A family about a block away from here was tortured. But, thankfully no one was killed. Kingsley was on duty last night, so he was able to get the situation under control before it got out of hand."

"They were muggles, weren't they?" Harry questioned curiously.

"Well, yes, but…" Remus began hesitantly. He sighed inwardly; he had to figure out just how to word the rest of this, without upsetting Harry. He didn't want to lie to him, but the situation was so complicated; just as everything that involved Harry seemed to be these days. It wasn't fair; Harry deserved so much more than this.

"_But_?" Harry prodded him to go on.

"I suppose you'll find out sooner or later, especially since…" He trailed off again. He knew Harry was going to be angry, and he had every right to be. Remus didn't blame him, but he didn't want to be on the receiving end of his wrath.

"Since _what_! What is everyone keeping from me now?!" Yes, there it was. It was extraordinary how much like James he was, but when it came to this side of Harry, he was completely his own person. Of course James got angry, but he never had reasons that Harry had. No one ever had these completely justifiable reasons that Harry had.

"Remus, just _tell_ him!" Tonks cut in. "You_ have_ to. He's going to scream at you whether you drag it out or not, that's just how he is." She added, grinning slightly. Ginny began to laugh but quickly covered it up with a coughing fit.

Harry scowled at both of them and was about to protest but Remus cut in. "Do you _blame_ him, though?" How _could _anyone blame him? He had not asked for his entire life to be this gigantic…mess.

"Of _course _I don't. What I meant to say was, Harry has a tendency to overdo it with the yelling. He directs it at the wrong people." Tonks explained hurriedly. The look on Harry's face softened a little.

"There's no easy way to tell you this Harry, and if it were up to me, you would have already known." He paused and collected his thoughts before he slowly began again, "The family that was attacked last night was your mum's brother; your uncle."

Ginny gasped, and Harry's face darkened again. "Dumbledore didn't want me to know, did he?" The bitterness was evident in his tone, but Remus recognized that it wasn't directed at him. Apparently Harry had understood what Tonks had meant and he silently noted to himself to thank her later for pointing it out.

"Yes. You see, Richard, your uncle was much more accepting of magic than Petunia ever was. Dumbledore thought that it would be better for you to grow up where there was no chance that you would hear about it at a younger age. He wanted you to stay entirely safe; and you did, didn't you?" Remus had to try his best to defend Dumbledore's reasoning. He understood it, but he personally would not have chosen that path himself.

"Harry, your uncle has a son that has just turned eleven." Remus continued without waiting for Harry to respond.

"Mark Evans..." Harry whispered and comprehension graced his features.

"You know him?" Remus was not expecting Harry to have known him, because of their age difference, but they did live so close to each other so it wasn't entirely impossible.

"Dudley always terrorizes the younger kids around here, and Mark has been one of his victims before." Harry answered.

"Nice, he picks on his own cousin." Ginny laughed derisively, rolling her eyes.

"That makes two. Up until I found out that I was a wizard, his favorite game was 'Harry Hunting.' But then when I got my wand, he was terrified of me." Harry reminisced.

"So you're saying that Mark is a wizard?" Ginny asked, getting back to the point.

"Hogwarts letters have not been sent out yet, but his father said that he's been displaying early signs of magic. The Order deemed it unnecessary to modify their memories because they already knew about magic." Remus explained. He was surprised, but very much relieved for how calm Harry had actually stayed up until this point.

"Well his wife was _very _confused. Apparently Richard had never bothered to give an explanation for the strange phenomenon that seemed to happen around their son." Tonks recounted, with an air of amusement.

Remus smiled and then turned back to Harry to judge his overall reaction. He seemed to be thinking it all through, because he was quiet and looked very much distracted. "Tonks, Ginny, can you excuse us for a few minutes? I need to talk to Harry alone."

They both nodded their assent and exited the room. Remus pulled Harry's desk chair to the center of the room and sat down. "Your uncle doesn't even know his sister lives here Harry, so don't be upset that he hasn't at least come to see you. But the Death Eaters tortured them to see if they knew anything about your whereabouts. Thank Merlin they didn't, otherwise who knows what could have happened." He paused, and the pain was evident in his eyes.

"I feel like I don't even know who I am anymore, Remus." Harry whispered, meeting his gaze for the first time in minutes.

"I know all of this is so difficult for you, but you _are _a strong person. You are most definitely not anything less than that because you are James and Lily's son." He smiled.

"You're all I've got left of them, Remus. I don't know what I would do without you." The emotion in Harry's voice was evident. It made tears prickle to Remus' eyes, and he couldn't hold them back.

"And _you're_ all I've got too. We've just got to stick together through this. I know it's hard, but your parents _and _Sirius wouldn't want our grief to overpower us." Remus struggled for words. He wanted more than anything to take Harry's pain away from him because he'd had enough of it for more than one lifetime; but unfortunately it wasn't possible.

"There's something I've wanted to ask you." Harry said after a few minutes of silence. He got up from his spot on the bed and crossed the room to where his trunk was and began rummaging through it. Remus waited to see what he was searching for and soon he saw what looked like an empty picture frame, but as soon as he got a better look at it, he realized what it was.

"Would you be able to fix this, do you think?" Harry inquired, handing the frame and the broken shards of the mirror to him.

He examined it briefly before responding, "I'm not sure, but if you'd like I'll take it with me and see if there's anyone at headquarters who might have a better idea of what to do than me." He paused briefly, "I don't suppose that he had the other one on him that night, did he?"

"I tried to contact him after he—after it happened, but, no, he didn't respond." Harry recounted sadly. Remus hadn't asked that directly, but he wasn't surprised that Harry had picked up on his hidden meaning. He knew that Harry had hoped, just as Remus had, that there was more to that veil; that maybe Sirius would return from it.

"Ah, I see. I'll look for the other one, as well." He wasn't able to hide the disappointment from his voice. But he had to know.

Suddenly Ginny stormed into the room breathless but evidently excited, "Harry, I've just spoken to your aunt. She said you can have the boxes, but she wants us to get them from the attic before your uncle comes home today."

"Boxes?" Remus inquired.

"Last week Harry and I snuck up to the attic and found two boxes, one with Harry's name on it, the other with Lily's." Ginny explained.

"What was in them?" Remus asked curiously.

"Hers had the Hogwarts yearbook from your year, a necklace, a doll, and two summer diaries." Harry began. "And mine had a blanket, pajamas and two letters." He said the last two words slowly.

"Who were the letters from?" Remus pushed on. He thought he had an idea.

"I didn't read either one, but I recognized the handwriting on both. One was from Dumbledore; it was addressed to my aunt and uncle, I suppose from the night he left me here. And the other was for me, from Sirius."

"Why didn't you read them?" Remus asked cautiously.

"I couldn't bring myself to do it." Was all Harry said and he understood. It was hard enough coping with the loss, but to read something that had been written by him fifteen years before would be too much for Remus too.

Tonks glanced at her watch, and began to speak, "Sorry Remus, but we've really got to be going." She looked at him and then Harry, apologetically. He felt bad that he couldn't spend more time with him, but they had promised Dumbledore that they'd see to another task for him in less than an hour.

He clapped Harry on the shoulder, "Right, well, it was nice seeing both of you again. Take care of yourselves, and we'll be in touch."

"Next time, try not to be sleeping in the same bed…because you never know when _other, _less understanding, Order members might drop in." Tonks added wickedly. And with a loud _crack _from each of them, they were gone.


	6. Harry's Birthday

The Guardians

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these wonderful characters; they all belong to the magnificent J.K. Rowling. (Except for the original few that you'll be able to recognize yourselves!)

**Chapter 6: Harry's Birthday**

After the incident with the Dark Mark, things were relatively quiet around Privet Drive again. The weeks flew by faster than either Harry or Ginny could have imagined. They spent their days mostly going through Lily's yearbook. They enjoyed seeing group pictures of the Marauders, and reading what everyone wrote to Lily. But Harry still had avoided reading the letters from both Sirius and Dumbledore. He would have loved to begin reading his mother's diaries, but when Petunia had allowed them to take the boxes, Harry noticed that both of them were missing. He found this odd, because what would she want with them _now _when she had access to them for years?

It was now July 30th, at 11:30 P.M. The two teens were staying up until midnight, counting down the minutes until Harry's 16th birthday. They both sat on the floor facing each other, talking about Harry's past birthdays spent at Privet Drive.

"How did you know it was your birthday if they never acknowledged it?" Ginny asked curiously.

"Right before my fifth birthday I asked them. It was Dudley's birthday and I asked them why I had never received any presents, and had a cake with candles. I had no idea what a birthday was. And they told me that kids like me didn't get special days like that." He explained with a little bit of bitterness in his voice. But then he smiled and added, "But then I set Dudley's cake on fire; of course I didn't _know _I had done it. But I really enjoyed how they reacted. I'll never forget how loud Aunt Petunia screamed and how purple Uncle Vernon's face turned."

"Did _they_ know it was you?" Ginny asked, laughing.

"Looking back on it now, yeah, they definitely knew it was my fault. They locked me in the cupboard under the stairs for the first time after that. I heard her yell through the door, 'Yours is July 31st!' I suppose she didn't want me to set her on fire next." He laughed at the memory; so much was still the same, yet so much more had changed.

"I wish I could remember my first birthday. Or anything from the time my parents were alive." Harry added wistfully, and then continued more solemnly. "The only memory I have of them is when they died."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Harry and Ginny both lost in their thoughts. They were brought out of their thoughts by a _tap tap_ at the window. They both turned towards the window to see three owls holding many parcels.

"Happy Birthday Harry!"

"Thanks!" He grinned, as Hedwig, Pig, and a barn owl Harry guessed to be from Hogwarts flew towards him. Ginny helped Harry untie the parcels from the three owls' legs so they could rest before two of the three departed once more. Hedwig let the other two owls drink first and she nipped Harry's finger affectionately as if to say 'Happy Birthday.' When the barn owl was done it flew out the open window, and Hedwig flew to her cage.

"Open your presents!" Ginny commanded, excitedly.

Harry smiled, and grabbed the first parcel, which was thin and light. He opened it and a note fell to the ground. He picked up the note, which read:

_Harry,_

_Happy Birthday! I was going through some things and found these old photos, and I thought you'd like to have them._

_Take care,  
Remus_

Harry pulled a stack of pictures from within the envelope and began to look through them. There was a bunch of the four Marauders both during their years at Hogwarts, and after they had graduated. One of Harry's favorites was one of Sirius crawling after a baby Harry. When he was done looking through them he passed them to Ginny and opened his next parcel.

It contained a card from Ron and a book entitled _Quidditch Teams Around the World_. In the card, Ron wrote a short note:

_Harry,_

_Happy Birthday! I hope the muggles aren't treating you too bad and that this book lifts your spirits a little. Wish you were here, mate. See you soon!_

_Ron_

_Soon_, Harry thought. September first was still a month away. He had missed Ron and Hermione more than he could even begin to explain, but admittedly he was slightly releievd that he still had more time to prepare himself before he saw the two of them again. He still hadn't figured out how he was going to do it.

The next one was a gift from Hermione, and judging by the shape of it, it was a book. As he unwrapped it and examined the cover he groaned, "Oh no, not another stupid homework planner."

"No, I don't think it is." Ginny laughed as she took it from him. "I think it's a journal, actually." She added as she flipped through the pages. A note fell out from the first page, "Here." She handed it to him and he read it aloud.

_Harry,_

_Happy Birthday! I hope you're well. I know what you're thinking, why do I need a journal? But you should use it; it might help you sort things out. Writing down my thoughts has always helped to clear my mind. Ron thought it was stupid at first, but I bought him one too and he seems to like it more than he'd ever admit.  
You sort of have to program it to only open for you. You just have to think of a password, and write it on the front of the book; once it disappears, you'll be able to open it. The journal will remember it so that it's the only way it can be opened. You'll have to write it in each time you want to use it.  
See you soon!_

_Love from,  
Hermione_

Harry put the journal to the side, deciding to look at it again later. It wasn't that bad, but he wasn't sure if he'd write anything that important in it. He picked up the next parcel that had Hagrid's tiny familiar handwriting on it. He opened the small package, which contained a picture of a baby dragon, and a birth certificate.

_Name: Norbert Jr.  
Breed: Norwegian Ridgeback  
Date of Birth: June 4, 1996  
Presented to: Harry Potter for his 16th Birthday)_

At the bottom, it was signed _Charlie Weasley_. Harry smiled; this gift was very typical of Hagrid. Harry liked it a lot though; just as long as the dragon stayed where he beloned.

_Happy Birthday Harry! I wasn't sure what to get you and when I saw this advertisement in the Daily Prophet last week I thought it would be great. Especially since Charlie would be the one taking care of him. You don't have to send any money, or anything, but they will send you pictures and information about him monthly. I hope you're doing well. Try not to let the muggles get you down!_

_Hagrid_

Along with Hagrid's parcel were two letters sealed with the Hogwarts crest. Harry's was much thicker than Ginny's because it contained his O.W.L. results. Harry passed Ginny's letter to her and they both tore open their respective envelopes.

Harry put the supply list aside for the time being and looked over his O.W.L. scores. He smiled in satisfaction.

_Defense Against the Dark Arts: __**Outstanding**_

_Potions: __**Outstanding**_

_Transfiguration: __**Exceeds Expectations**_

_Charms: __**Exceeds Expectations**_

_Divination: __**Dreadful**_

_Care of Magical Creatures: __**Acceptable**_

_Astronomy: __**Acceptable**_

_History of Magic: __**Poor**_

_Herbology: __**Acceptable**_

"Are my eyes deceiving me Mr. Potter, is that an 'O' in Potions?" Ginny was leaning closer so that she could see his his O.W.L.'s scores. "Because from what I know, you aren't that great at Potions, _and_ Snape hates you. Even if you were able to get that grade, I don't think he would want to accept you into his N.E.W.T. level class. And I'm also surprised you would actually _want_ to take it!" she smiled wryly.

"Honestly, I've had enough of Snape for a lifetime. But unfortunately, N.E.W.T level potions is required for Auror training, and to meet _Snape's _requirements I needed to get an outstanding." Harry imagined the look on Snape's face when he saw the grades. It must have been priceless and he was very sorry that he couldn't see it for himself.

"But you still didn't answer my original question! _How _did you get that outstanding?"

"Why? You don't think I could get an Outstanding on my own?" He said raising his eyebrow, pretending to be offended.

Ginny grinned, "_Did _you cheat?"

"_I_ didn't." He thought back to his career advice with McGonagall and began to laugh. "Umbridge didn't think that I had the ability meet the requirements for Potions _or _Defense last year, but McGonagall thought otherwise. She swore that she would do whatever it took to help me become an Auror. I guess she really meant it." He grinned with satisfaction at the memory. He made a mental note to thank her.

Harry reached for his supply list and scanned it; he briefly glanced at the books that were required for his sixth year. At the very end of the list was something extra, which read:

_Christmas Eve Ball: Boys may wear dress robes of their preferred style and/or color. Girls may wear either dress robes or a muggle ball gown of their preferred style and/or color._

Harry groaned. "Not again…"

Ginny laughed, smacking Harry playfully on the arm, "It's not that bad!"

He looked through the supply list again, and realized that the letter had not mentioned anything about his Quidditch ban. He was sure he was allowed back on the team, but he thought for sure that his letter would at least mention it.

"Something wrong?" Ginny asked, obviously noticing Harry's slight change in attitude.

"It didn't say anything about my Quidditch ban." He replied dejectedly.

"Harry, you _know_ that McGonagall would never keep you off the team now that Umbridge is gone."

"I know, but it'd be nice to be told before I get back to Hogwarts. Are you going to try out for the team?" Harry decided to change the subject, because she was right.

"Probably chaser, but if you _don't _get back on the team, then I suppose seeker!" She teased him.

"Not a chance, Weasley." He grinned.

"Come on, finish opening your presents, you're taking forever!"

"You're impatient, did you know that?" He asked her, not actually expecting any reply. He grabbed the next parcel, which was from Mr. and Mrs. Weasely. It was a care package, which of course was not just for him, but for Ginny as well. had explained in the letter that she would be picking up his school things when they went to Diagon Alley for Ron's supplies. They both assumed that this meant Ginny's things too, although it was not actually mentioned, for fear of anything being intercepted.

"Harry, I'm sorry I didn't get you anything..." Ginny said quietly, after Harry had finished opening the last of his gifts, which had been a box of sample Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products from Fred and George.

"Don't be ridiculous, Ginny. You being here, keeping me in once piece is enough, _believe _me." He said sincerely, and then added with a mischievous grin, "Besides, now you owe me a really great Christmas gift.

Ginny glared at him playfully, and then stifled a yawn. "Come on, we should get some sleep." She leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. "Night, birthday boy."

"Night, Gin." He replied as they both settled in their respectful beds, or in Harry's case, the floor. It wasn't long before both of them drifted off to sleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ginny was awoken a few hours later by Harry's usual yelling and tossing and turning. He was dreaming, as he did almost every night. She immediately went to his side,. "Harry, wake up! It's just a dream, it's not real." She whispered, soothingly.

After a few minutes of this he woke up and mumbled, "I'm sorry, Ginny. I should really talk to my aunt and uncle about sleeping on the sofa or something."

"Don't be silly, Harry. I don't mind. It's better if you're woken up anyway; that way you don't have to go through it entirely every night." She knew that even though what she was saying was true, he still thought about it every day so it didn't really make that much of a difference. "I just wish there was something more that I could do…"

"Me too, but don't worry about it, I'm used to it."

"_No one _should get used to _that_." She said, and before he could give her any reason for it, she added. "Try to go back to sleep." She went back to her bed, and soon she heard his breathing become even again. She too tried to fall back to sleep, but was unable to now that she was awake. Ginny glanced at the clock on the night table and saw that it was 5:30 am, so she decided that she'd go down to the kitchen and attempt to make Harry a birthday cake. It was the least she could do since she couldn't get him a real gift.

She quietly left the room, careful not to wake Harry again, and tiptoed down to the kitchen. When she walked in she was surprised to see Petunia sitting at the kitchen table, sipping some tea. "I-I'm sorry." Ginny mumbled.

"No, no don't be. What are you doing up this early?" she replied in a curious voice.

"It's Harry's birthday, so I thought I'd make him a birthday cake. I mean, if that's okay with you." Ginny had not expected anyone to be awake, so she hoped that Petunia wouldn't object to her using the kitchen.

"Oh yes, of course its fine. Let me know if you need any help." Petunia replied in a perfectly friendly manner.

Ginny stared at her a bit shocked at first, but then thought that it made sense. Petunia had been acting much different than what Harry had always told everyone. "Thank you." Ginny smiled politely at her. She turned to the pantry and began taking out what she needed for the cake.

Thankfully, she had taken Muggle Studies, which had proved to be helpful with baking the cake. It didn't take her long to find all of the ingredients that she needed, and pretty soon the batter was all mixed and ready to put into the oven, but she needed a pan first. Petunia retrieved it for her and Ginny continued with her working, humming quietly to herself. While the cake was baking, Ginny made icing (red and gold, of course).

When the cake was finally done and cooled, she iced it with the red, and wrote on it with gold. As an extra touch, she surrounded the entire cake with tiny little golden snitches. Petunia was complimenting the cake, when she asked, "What are those winged circles all around it?"

"Golden Snitches, used in the game--"

"Quidditch." Petunia finished.

"How did you know?" Ginny inquired.

"_He_ was talking about it once with my sister a very long time ago." Petunia said, a hint of bitterness creeping into her tone.

"You mean James?" Ginny didn't like that she referred to him this way, but supposed that she shouldn't really protest too much, because Petunia's behavior towards Harry had improved tenfold, so it wasn't worth it.

Petunia silently nodded. "Here." She said handing Ginny some candles and a book of matches and then walked out of the kitchen.

Ginny put the candles into the cake and lit them before heading back up to Harry's room. When she opened the door she began singing, and as she did Harry's eyes fluttered open. When he was fully awake and realized what was going on he laughed, but seemed to not know what to say.

"Well, make a wish!" She prompted, setting the cake down in front of him.

Harry looked at the cake for a minute, then closed his eyes and blew out the candles. "Thank you." He finally said, warmly. "You really don't know how much this means to me. I don't ever really get to celebrate my birthday with anyone."

They each took a piece of cake and talked for the rest of the day, taking seconds and eventually thirds as the day went on.

"Harry? Are you going to restart the DA?" Ginny asked between bites.

"Well, I reckon if we have a decent teacher this year, we won't really need it. Do you think we should?" She had to admit, the DA was her favorite part of her previous year at Hogwarts.

"I think that even if we have a decent teacher, it would benefit everyone who joins. It's much easier to learn from someone that's close to your own age. Not to mention," She paused and looked at him meaningfully, "Someone who's had a lot more practical experience than most of our teachers."

"What could I teach this year though? I pretty much covered anything we'd be _allowed_ to do. Maybe if we got permission to do more dangerous spells…" He seemed to be thinking the whole thing over in his head.

"That really shouldn't be a problem though. I'm almost positive that Dumbledore would allow you to do anything that you wanted."

The rest of the day was spent talking about what they could do with the DA when they finally returned to Hogwarts in only a little over a month's time. Ginny was pleased that she'd successfully found something to keep Harry's mind off of the usual direction of his thoughts. He'd become so immersed in his planning that he even began writing notes down for it. That night was the first night in weeks that Harry had not had his usual nightmares.


	7. Confrontations and Reunions

The Guardians

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these wonderful characters; they all belong to the magnificent J.K. Rowling. (Except for the original few that you'll be able to recognize yourselves!)

A/N: So out of all of these chapter rewrites, this one has changed the most. It was more difficult to write this one than any of the other ones, and also happens to be the longest. I'm quite happy with how it turned out, so I hope you are too!

**Chapter 7: Confrontations and Reunions**

Twelve days after Harry's Birthday, was the birthday of someone else residing at Privet Drive although Harry had no idea until midnight on August eleventh, when an unfamiliar owl flew through the open window and went right to Ginny.

"I wonder what that is." Harry inquired.

"Probably just a birthday gift." Ginny replied nonchalantly.

"Why didn't you tell me it was your birthday?" Harry felt bad that he had no idea. He knew he couldn't buy her a gift or anything, but it still would have been nice for him to acknowledge it before the owl flew in.

"It doesn't really matter much, Harry." She seemed really indifferent about it, and for some reason this irritated Harry.

She had made such a big deal out of his birthday. She made him a _cake _for Merlin's sake. He didn't even _know _it was her birthday until a moment ago. "It matters to _me_. I know I couldn't buy you a birthday gift, but the least I could do was wish you a Happy Birthday."

"It's not too late, silly. My birthday just began, say it _now_." She said cheerfully.

"Well, Happy Birthday then." He said guilt still evident in his voice.

"Harry, you really shouldn't feel so bad. My family hasn't been making a big deal out of anyone's birthdays since last year." She explained, trying to make him feel better. But what she said made him feel even worse.

"What about mine? Your entire family gave me gifts and I'm _not _family!" His voice was rising slightly. He knew that if he got any louder he'd wake his aunt and uncle up, but he didn't care right now. He couldn't believe that the Weasley's barely acknowledged their own daughter's birthday, but _his _they could take time for.

"Harry, you're _you._ They just want to make you happy. We've celebrated our birthdays every year consistently and you've never had that!" She was struggling to explain it to him, but he didn't want to hear it if it was only about him being _Harry Potter_.

"Just because I'm _The Boy Who Lived _doesn't mean your parents have to treat me _better _than their own children!" His voice was steadily rising once again, and Ginny looked nervous.

"Harry please, just calm down, I didn't mean to upset you. You don't want to wake anyone--" Her plea was cut off by a high pitched screeching coming from outside the open window.

The screeching became louder and all of a sudden Hedwig flew into the room wildly; her attempt to make it to her cage was unsuccessful. The cage crashed to the ground making a horrible noise, not mention the unbearable screeches that were still emanating from Hedwig. Harry and Ginny rushed over to help the poor bird; Harry picked her up off the ground and placed her on his bed. "_Hedwig…"_ She was bleeding and her right wing was badly damaged.

Before Harry got a chance to fully examine her and figure out what he could do to ease her pain, a very purple faced Uncle Vernon burst through the door screaming at the top of his lungs. "WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS GOING ON IN HERE, BOY! THE _NORMAL _PEOPLE IN THIS HOUSE ARE TRYING TO SLEEP!"

"Normal people?! _Normal people _don't scream at the top of their lungs when everyone is _sleeping_." Harry spat back.

"NORMAL PEOPLE DO NOT KEEP BLOODY OWLS AS PETS. _SHUT THAT THING UP BEFORE I DO IT FOR YOU!"_ He stepped closer to Harry with every word.

"Someone seems to have beaten you to it!" Harry began, gesturing wilding to the helpless Hedwig, who was still screeching loudly from his bed. "Now, _please_ get the hell out of my room so I can help her before she _dies!"_

"HOW DARE YOU! THIS IS MY HOME, YOU UNGRATEFUL FREAK! AFTER ALL WE HAVE DONE FOR YOU!" Their faces were quite close now, and Ginny who had been trying to quiet the still suffering Hedwig, stepped closer to try and pull Harry away.

"_I'm _ungrateful? You have never done _anything _for me to even be _grateful _for. So don't _tell me _that _I'm _ungrateful!"

"THEN GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! RIGHT NOW! _**GO!**_" He pointed fiercely to the door.

"_Believe me_, if I had any other choice, I'd be gone by now. I've told you that already. So maybe you should start getting used to it. I can't go anywhere." The bitterness dripped from Harry's voice, and he had hoped that his uncle was done with this ridiculous, fight.

But, Vernon didn't seem to hear a word that Harry had uttered; he continued, "FIRST I HAD TO DEAL WITH YOU BEING HERE, BUT NOW YOU BRING THIS TRAMP INTO MY HOME AND I WON'T STAND FOR THIS ANYMORE. YOU FREAKS WILL NOT DICTATE MY LIFE ANYMORE."

Up until that point Harry had stayed relatively composed, but something in him snapped and he lost all sense of composure. "_TRAMP? _YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT! GET OUT! _GET OUT OF MY ROOM! __**NOW!"**_

"You listen now boy!" As he said this, he raised his right hand like he was going to strike Harry.

Before Harry had a chance to comprehend what was going on, Ginny stepped in front of him and took the blow that was meant for Harry and crumpled to the floor.

"GET OUT!" Harry's anger flared ten times more than it had before; the lights were flickering with uncontrolled magic.

Uncle Vernon just stared dumbfounded obviously in shock of what he had done.

"_GET OUT NOW!_" Harry said more forcefully. His uncle walked out the door and Harry slammed it in his face.

The lights stopped flickering, and a shaking, still angry Harry, knelt down beside Ginny who was now sitting up.

"I'm so sorry Ginny. This is all my fault. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have let it get that bad…"

"It's _not _your fault. You didn't make me stand in front of you; I _chose _to do that." She smiled weakly at him.

"Why?" He whispered in a barely audible voice.

"I--didn't want him to hit you. And I didn't think he would actually hit _me_, but I guess it happened too fast for him to realize I was blocking you." She replied her voice was as low as his. "I'm not hurt though; the back of his hand collided with the side of my head. I think I was just unprepared for it; that's why I fell." She said more confidently; he could tell she was trying to make him feel better, but it wasn't working.

"Your lip is bleeding." He said as he gently wiped the blood off with his thumb.

"Thank you." She whispered, looking into his eyes. "Hedwig!" She added more urgently a few seconds later, as she remembered the whole reason they were in this mess. They both stood up, walking back to where Hedwig was still screeching.

"Harry, I think we should put a silencing—" She was cut off by the door crashing open once more. Harry spun around quickly, on his guard for another argument, but was shocked to see Mad-Eye Moody and Remus in the doorway.

"What are you—" Harry began.

"What in Merlin's name is going on here, Potter?" Moody asked, his magical eye whizzing around, and then stopping while facing the back of his head as if he was looking through the wall. Harry guessed he was keeping an eye on the Dursleys.

Harry quickly explained everything that had happened in the last few minutes. Both Remus and Moody looked significantly relieved when they realized that neither Harry or Ginny were seriously harmed.

"Remus, _please _don't tell my parents, or my brothers what Harry's uncle—"

"Don't be ridiculous, Ginny…they have to know." Harry cut in harshly. He couldn't believe she was saying this.

"Harry, if they find out, they aren't going to let me stay here anymore, and I _have _to stay here." She looked at him pleadingly; her chocolate brown eyes were full of fear. He didn't understand; shouldn't she be _afraid _to be there after what just happened?

"She has a point Harry, although I'd prefer if your family did know Ginny. I don't think they'd appreciate it if they found out we were lying to them." Remus argued.

"But how could they possibly find out if we all swore not to tell them? Remus, I'm begging you, this is my life, and they don't _need _to be bothered with this. It's not like he purposely tried to hit me, I stepped in _front _of Harry." Ginny declared adamantly.

Harry began to protest again, but Remus cut him off, "Leave it alone, Harry. Now, let me see Hedwig." He walked over to where she was still laying helplessly, and screeching in pain on Harry's bed. Remus shook his head in disbelief. "We'll have to take her with us, and Hagrid can examine her. We're also going to have to look into how this happened, because by it appears that someone tried to take her down." He said this last part grimly. His prematurely lined face was set into a frown.

"Whoever did it couldn't have been far," Moody growled, "Because with an injury like that, your owl couldn't have flown very far."

"You think someone knows we're here then?" Harry said worriedly. First the attack on his mother's brother's house only a block away, and now this; they _had _to know they were here; there was no way this was all a huge coincidence.

"That's fairly irrelevant though, because no matter what, they can't get to you. You are protected here until you turn seventeen, Harry. They could be standing right in front of the house, but have no way in." Remus sounded confident, so Harry would take his word for it.

"Mad Eye, take Hedwig back to Hagrid. I'm going to stay here for a while longer." Remus added. With that, Moody disappeared from the room.

"Why?" Harry was certain he already knew the answer to this but he had to ask anyway.

"I don't trust your uncle. I know it was an accident, Ginny," he said, putting his hand up in defense, "But he's getting to be a little ridiculous. He knows what's at stake here." Remus said soberly.

Harry couldn't argue with that; his uncle was well informed about the situation. You would think that Vernon, who feared magic, would at least respect the fact that Harry had to stay under his roof for his own protection; which, Harry hated to admit was for the entire world's benefit; wizard and muggle alike.

"Don't you think Dumbledore should come have a talk with them again?" Harry put in.

Remus seemed to think this over and sighed, "Yes. I do, but Dumbledore is very busy with other things at the moment." He paused and Harry tried to read his face, but he couldn't figure out what had his former professor so concerned, "Some of those reasons are very valid; but then there are others that I think are much less important than our situation right here."

"What do you mean?" This worried Harry and it seemed to peak Ginny's interest too. They both looked at Remus expectantly, waiting for him to respond.

He shook his head, "I can't—Get some sleep." Remus gave them one last glance and then exited from the room.

"This is all _very _odd." Ginny said, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"You're telling me. What's on your mind?" Harry didn't hide his annoyance nearly as much as she tried to.

"I don't understand why we can't be told about things that _obviously _concern us. Or at least just you! All of this, everything…it concerns you. They should tell you! I finally understand why you always get so angry about everything!" She threw herself down on the bed in defeat.

Harry wasn't entirely sure why but he burst out laughing at the sight of her. She sat up and stared at him, looking irritated but then she too burst out laughing. Ginny picked up a pillow and threw it at him, "I think we should take Remus' advice."

"Yes, but there's just one thing I'd like to say before we do that." Harry said, grinning.

"What's that?"

"Happy Birthday, Ginny."

She glared at him and then began laughing again, "Honestly, I'd nearly forgotten after all of that."

"Well, I suppose that makes me better than you, because _I _didn't forget." He scoffed and quickly gave her a kiss on the cheek. He surprised himself, because it was usually she that kissed _him _on the cheek, but he owed it to her after everything that he unintentionally put her through.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When Harry awoke the next morning he was surprised to find that Remus had spent the night on the sofa. And much to the dismay of both Petunia and Vernon Dursley, he was planning to stay for the remainder of August (with the exception of the full moon, of course; but the Dursleys were not informed of Remus' lycanthropy). Harry had assumed that Remus had spoken to the pair about it the previous night, for when he asked his former Professor he told Harry that it was taken care of. He seemed in much better spirits than the night before, so Harry decided not to press it.

Although the Durselys were clearly displeased by the presence of the fully trained wizard in their house, they tried their best not to show it. Dudley was so terrified (for now there were _three _magical people at his house) that he spent every possible moment out with his gang.

For Harry and Ginny, on the other hand, the company was much more enjoyable. They finally had a connection to everything and everyone that they missed so dearly.

The Saturday following Ginny's birthday, the three of them were chatting in the sitting room, while the Dursleys were out for the afternoon. Tonks was due to stop in after her shift of guarding Privet Drive was finished.

"You said that Dumbledore was busy…" Harry had not quite figured out how to word his queries, but he was eager to know what Dumbledore was up to and why Remus had seemed not to approve of it.

"I already told you that I'm not at liberty to discuss such topics. Besides, I'm not even entirely sure what he's up to." Remus' concern for the situation was written clearly upon his face. "I do know, however," He continued after the slight pause, "that whatever it is, his intentions are…sincere."

"You don't seem too convinced." Harry stated flatly.

Remus allowed himself to laugh briefly, "I'll admit that I'm not, but this is Dumbledore we're talking about."

Despite Harry's hostility towards his headmaster, he had to agree with Remus. He knew that even Dumbledore's decision to withhold the prophecy from him, was made with good intentions.

Harry looked back up at Remus, about to ask just one more question regarding Dumbledore but Remus held up a hand. "I promise you'll find out more as soon as he sees fit; but for now, that's all I'll say on that subject."

The rest of the weeks flew by after that; they had many visits (although most of them were very brief) from various members of the Order from time to time. And before they knew it, it was the eve of September first. Harry and Ginny packed their trunks with all of their new school supplies that had been sent via Tonks just a few days prior, while Remus arranged their safe departure for Kings Cross the following morning.

Harry also made sure to pack the majority of the contents of the two boxes that he and Ginny had found in the attic. As he double and triple checked his room for things that he might have forgotten, he realized with a sinking in his stomach, that he did not have his Firebolt.

"You'll get it back once we're at Hogwarts." Ginny had reassured him.

About fifteen minutes later, they were finished. They both sat at opposite ends of Harry's bed, sharing a box of Every Flavor Beans. "So, are you happy to finally be going back?" She asked him, as she carefully selected a light yellow bean.

He took a minute to answer, "Of course. But, Ron and Hermione…" He trailed off knowing that he didn't have to finish his statement. She had become quite attune to his thinking after all this time they had spent together.

"You've got no deadline to tell them, so just take your time." She smiled reassuringly, "But don't push them away, Harry."

He sighed, "It's not like I'd do it on purpose."

"I know, and I'm sure they do by now too. You just can't forget that we're here for you, above anything else." He looked up into her warm brown eyes and it made him slightly more at east.

But her expression changed instantly as she bit her lip, as if she were contemplating whether she should tell him something. "Harry," she began, "I've just remembered that since I'm a prefect, I have to sit in the prefect's carriage and patrol corridors on the train. I'm sorry." She took to chewing her lip again.

Harry had to admit, he _did _forget about this. He had become so accustomed to Ginny always being there that he hadn't even think about what would happen once they returned to Hogwarts. After all, it wasn't just about her being a prefect; she was a whole year younger than him. They weren't going to be spending every hour together anymore. He pushed those thoughts away for the time being and decided that he wouldn't be difficult; it wasn't _fair _to be difficult.

"I'll be fine. I'm sure Neville and Luna will be around."

"But, you know I could probably sneak off for a while if you wanted. Besides, there are plenty of other Gryffindor prefects to get the job done; they wouldn't miss me very much."

Harry smiled, "You shouldn't neglect your responsibilities right away. I wouldn't want you to get in trouble because of me."

"Harry, you're way more important than being a prefect. Even if I _did _get reported to McGonagall or Dumbledore, what's the worst that could happen? They would understand."

Harry laughed in spite of the seriousness of this conversation, "We can probably get away with _anything _if we _really _wanted to."

Ginny raised her eyebrows amused, "What are you implying? That if we were found in a broom cupboard together, I could just say that I was merely trying to lift the Chosen One's spirits?"

Harry burst out laughing and Ginny followed. "Ginny Weasley, your mother would be horrified at such talk!" He said mockingly, but reflected that it was probably true.

"I have six older brothers Harry; she's heard worse."

"I'm sure they wouldn't be too thrilled at that idea either, would they?" Harry said before he thought it through entirely. He supposed it could have been worse; he could have voiced _his _opinion of the idea—which was that he definitely approved. He glanced at Ginny who stared at him as if she was trying to read his thoughts.

"I don't suppose they would." She said quietly, leaning over to select an Every Flavor Bean from the box that Harry had been holding.

Harry couldn't help but notice the loose lock of hair that fell in front of her eyes as she leaned over. He impulsively tucked it behind her ear. She abandoned her search through the box and their eyes locked. They leaned in closer and he could feel her warm breath on his face.

"Harry—" Ginny whispered, but was interrupted by a knock on the door. The two instantly jumped apart before the door opened slightly to reveal Remus.

"Everything's set for tomorrow! Two more order members and myself will be escorting you to Kings Cross. We'll take a portkey around 10:30 tomorrow morning, to a designated spot near the station and we'll walk the rest of the way to the platform." Much to Harry's relief (and probably Ginny's, as well), Remus hadn't noticed the awkwardness that was now present due to his interruption. If he _had _noticed, he didn't mention it.

"Harry, your aunt mentioned that she would like to speak to you before we depart tomorrow, so I suggest you get that over with now." Remus added.

"Did she say what it was about?" He couldn't imagine that she actually wanted to wish him well for his next coming year at school.

"She didn't say much. Come on, we'll all go downstairs and while you talk to your aunt, Ginny and I can have a round of chess." He smiled.

Harry sighed in resignation, and he and Ginny followed Remus out of the room. He left them in the sitting room and made his way into the kitchen. His aunt was sitting at the table, and he noticed that his mother's diaries were to her right. He took the seat opposite her, and waited for her to speak.

"I wanted to talk to you about the reason why we took you in." Aunt Petunia began to explain, but it looked as if it were difficult for her to decide what to say next. Luckily for both of them, Harry could figure out where she was going with this.

You're referring to the bond with my mum's blood, aren't you?" Harry was surprised that she was bringing it up. Upon seeing his mother's diaries he had assumed that she was just going to give them back and that would be the end of it. But he could tell she was really trying her best not to be rude to him, which was usually characteristic of their very brief conversations. He figured that as long as she could be respectful, so could he.

She nodded silently, but then continued, "That man, the one who's been staying here said that—"

"_Remus_." Harry cut in, almost bitterly. He couldn't help it though; he hated when both Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon refused to say someone's name just because they were wizards.

"Yes, Remus said that you've been made aware that I have a brother." She said this with as little emotion as possible. He really wondered if she had communicated with him after all these years and if she _hadn't, _had it even bothered her in the slightest.

She decided to continue when Harry's silence made it clear that he wasn't going to respond until she gave her full account of things. "My brother, Richard was always more accepting than I, of what Lily was. That—Dumbledore man said that you would be much safer, if you grew up very far from anything involving…magic." She said the last word as if it was something disgusting.

Harry still waited for her to go on, "I already know all of this, so if that's all—"

Aunt Petunia cut in, as if she was in a rush to spit the next few words out, "I know that I have always acted as if I've hated Lily, but that isn't true."

"So you're telling me that you've been faking it for all of these years?" Harry asked, disdainfully. If she had been faking it for all that time, she was pretty convincing; but Harry didn't believe it.

"No, I was just…" She trailed off and looked down at her hands.

"Just what?" Harry persisted. He tried to keep his tone civil, but he knew it wasn't working.

"Jealous." She answered quietly. "I was jealous of _perfect _Lily, who had everything! Friends, brains, talent, beauty and boys!" Aunt Petunia sounded much more like herself now as she complained about her sister.

It made perfect sense to Harry, though; she hadn't ever hated Lily, she just desired everything that she had. Aunt Petunia continued her rant, "She was _special_! She was a _witch_. And I wasn't." She said this last part more quietly than the rest, but with just as much malice.

Harry stared at her incredulously for a few minutes. Her hatred for magic was not out of fear, like Harry had been lead to believe for so many years; but because she could not perform it herself. "You were jealous of my mum, because she was a witch?" He finally replied, still in disbelief.

"Yes." She said quietly. "I regret treating Lily as I did. I loved her Harry, you have to believe that."

"If you loved her so much then why have you treated _me _so dreadfully for all of these years?" He couldn't help keep the bitterness out of his tone. If what she was saying was true, in the event of her sister's death, wouldn't she have done whatever she could to make her nephew's life more bearable? Everything that Aunt Petunia had put him through pointed to the exact opposite.

"Vernon knew all about what she was and he was terrified! Lily always tried to reconcile with me but at the time I still resented her. It wasn't until she…died, that I finally realized how childish it all was."

Harry couldn't tell exactly, but he thought she had tears in her eyes. "You shouldn't have let what your husband thought of your sister stop you from seeing her." He stood up from his place at the table, making it clear that he was done with this conversation.

"Wait—don't forget these. She would want you to have them." He had almost forgotten about the two diaries that his aunt was now handing to him.

"Thanks." He muttered, and exited the room. When he entered the sitting room, Remus and Ginny weren't playing chess as they had planned; the two were sitting on the floor facing the door to the kitchen rolling up a long flesh colored string.

"Eavesdropping, were we?" Harry smiled in spite of his now sullen mood.

"It was Ginny's idea." Remus said innocently, holding both hands up in surrender.

Ginny's jaw dropped, "You're the one who brought the extendable ears with you in the first place!"

"Every order member has them; especially when we're on duty keeping a watch on the two of you." He added with a grin.

"I think you'd make Sirius and my dad proud." Harry couldn't help but laugh. He knew that when they were younger, Remus was always the one to make sure his fellow Marauders weren't going to cause too much trouble.

Remus chuckled, "You're probably right."

"Anyway Harry, we were just discussing your conversation—" Ginny began.

"Aren't you worried that she's going to hear us?" Harry cut in.

"Harry, don't you know how to eavesdrop? We put a silencing charm on our end of the door. We could hear you, but you couldn't hear us." Remus replied matter-of-factly.

"Are you channeling them or something?" By 'them' he meant his father and Sirius.

Remus laughed again, "I've just learned a thing or two from them, is all."

Ginny and Remus both shared their opinions of Aunt Petunia's jealousy. They had both agreed that it made perfect sense, yet Harry still couldn't understand why she would extend her resentment to him if she had felt so badly for how she had treated her sister.

"Well there was your uncle's opinion and she probably didn't want to upset him by treating you with any bit of kindness. And she never got the chance to apologize to your mum so she may have come to terms with it, but she never came clean about it." Ginny had explained.

"It certainly wasn't the _right_ way of going about it, but it's very typical of Petunia." Remus added.

Soon after, Remus ordered the two teenagers to go to bed, for they had to wake up early the next morning.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

As promised, Remus woke Harry and Ginny up early enough so that they would both have time to get the rest of their things together. Harry had not slept well, which was not unusual, but the prospect of going back to Hogwarts in just a few hours made it easier for him to drag himself out of his make-shift bed.

Harry, Ginny and Remus waited in the sitting room for Tonks and Moody to arrive. They were all relatively quiet, Harry especially. He was anxious, both to return to Hogwarts and because of the impending conversation he was inevitably going to have with Ron and Hermione.

"Are you alright, Harry?" Ginny broke the silence.

"I'm fine." Harry lied. He knew that neither of them were fooled.

"You don't have to tell anyone anything until you're ready." She reminded him yet again.

No matter how many times that anyone said it, he couldn't seem to grasp how true it was. They would all think that he was still brooding over Sirius' death, and while this was still the truth, it wasn't all of it.

"I know." His voice was nearly drowned out altogether by loud cracks that announced the arrival of the rest of their guard.

"Wotcher." Tonks said to the room at large. Her hair was her usual bubble gum pink today, but she dressed less conspicuously, as did Moody who had a bowler hat tipped down to cover his whirring magical eye.

"Hello. Aren't you going to make sure it's really us, Moody?" Harry asked wearily.

Remus chuckled and Moody nodded, "Yes of course. Potter, what did I say to you last summer about your wand when we came to retrieve you?"

Harry grinned in spite of his sullen mood. "You said I shouldn't put my wand in my pocket because you have known even fully qualified wizards that have—"

Moody waved a hand for him to stop. "That'll do Potter. Now, Weasley what is the reason why you are here this summer?"

"Professor Trelawney made another prophecy regarding my bond with Harry."

"Remus, why have you been staying here for the remainder of August?" Moody growled.

"Vernon Dursley _accidentally,_" He glanced over at Ginny, "hit Ginny Weasley, so I stayed to make sure that her and Harry were completely safe."

"Right, let's get going then." Moody glanced at his watch, "This portkey is going to activate in two minutes; grab your belongings." The portkey was an old tattered book, which didn't seem to have a title printed on the front any longer. The five of them took hold of the book; Harry felt the familiar sensation of the activating portkey and saw Number Four Privet Drive dissolve around him.

When they reappeared they were in an alley a few blocks from Kings Cross, Remus shrunk their trunks so that they could hold them easily in the palm of their hands. It took about ten minutes to make it to Kings Cross and another five to make their way through the crowds of muggles to Platform 9 ¾ .

They quickly passed through the barrier to the magical side and Harry breathed a sigh of relief. He was finally somewhere that didn't require him to pretend; he was almost home. He tapped his trunk, muttering _Finite Incantantum_, to return it to its original size.

"Do you know if my brother and Hermione are here yet?" Ginny looked around.

"They should be." Tonks replied, peering through the crowds.

Immediately after this exchange was made, Ron and Hermione walked off the train. Ron spotted Harry and grinned. Ginny grabbed Harry's hand reassuringly, as Hermione ran at the pair of them, full speed catching them in a hug at the same time.

"It's great to see you!" She beamed at them both. Harry realized that he couldn't stop grinning and was relieved that his anxiety from before wasn't making itself known. He feared that it would return but he didn't have much time to linger on that thought as Ron came over and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Good to see you, mate. My sister didn't drive you too crazy, did she?" It was almost as if Ron was hoping that Harry would say yes.

"Occasionally," He grinned at her, but then admitted, "Actually, Ginny's been my rock."

Ron's face fell slightly, "Oh, well, that's—er great." Hermione elbowed him in a not so subtle manner.

"Come on Harry," She said taking his hand again. "Let's go say hello to my mum and dad." They walked off to where her parents were conversing with their guard.

"Ron didn't seem too thrilled." Harry noted.

"He's just jealous that I'm stealing his best friend from him." She said, sticking her tongue out at him.

Mrs. Weasley was overjoyed to see them and engulfed them both in hugs countless times. She fussed over how skinny they both were and began to cry when she had to say goodbye.

"Mum, we'll be home for Christmas!" Ginny reassured her.

"Oh I know, but I haven't seen either of you in months and now I have to say goodbye so soon." Mrs. Weasley hugged both of her children as well as Harry and Hermione, one last time and they began to walk back towards the bright red steam engine.

Remus pulled Harry to the side, "Tonks just told me that she found the other mirror in Sirius' old room while I was staying with you. Moody was able to fix yours as well." Reaching into his pocket, he handed Harry the previously shattered mirror.

"If you need _anything at all_, even if it's just to talk, don't hesitate to call on the mirror. And there's one other thing." He reached into his pocket once again and took out a square parcel covered in brown paper. "The note in there explains it. Be careful Harry, and don't dwell on anything too much, okay?" He added very seriously.

"You too." Harry returned, and Remus pulled Harry into a fatherly hug.

When Harry boarded the train it didn't take him long to find Ginny, Ron and Hermione. They were in the corridor talking to Neville and Luna; their conversation ended abruptly when they spotted Harry. He glanced at each of their faces, trying to read if they were talking about him. Ron and Hermione avoided his stare, but Neville and Luna were as friendly as ever. Harry sighed inwardly.

"Hi, Harry." Neville greeted him.

"Hi Neville, Hello Luna." Harry replied, "How were your summers?"

"It wasn't very eventful, but I can't complain." Neville answered.

"My father and I went looking for crumple-horned snorkacks. We had a great time!" Harry couldn't help but smile at Luna; she was one of the most interesting people he knew; she never cared what anyone thought of her, no matter how odd she came off as.

Hermione began to laugh, but quickly covered it up with a coughing fit.

"Well, we better go look for a compartment. Come on Harry. We'll see you later." Ginny said as she began to lead him down the corridor.

"Er...Ginny, you just finished telling us that you're a prefect, so you have to sit with the rest of us." Ron began.

"I know." Ginny continued down the corridor, opening a door here and there, finding them already occupied and Ron and Hermione followed.

One particular occupant of a compartment made Harry stop. Inside was a girl that looked about their age, but he had never seen her before; she had long, straight black hair. When she realized someone was standing in the doorway, she looked up.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Harry said quickly and they moved on.

"Who was she? I've never seen her before." Ron stated after they were well out of earshot.

"Me either, but her eyes, they looked so familiar." Harry said contemplatively.

"Her eyes? You've seen her eyes, but not her?" Ron asked him in confusion.

"No, somebody else has those eyes." Harry explained. Ron still looked at him puzzled but they didn't get a chance to discuss it further, for Ginny had found an empty compartment. They stored their trunks safely and sat down.

"We should probably head over to the prefect's compartment." Hermione stated.

"You two go ahead, I'll come in few minutes."

"Ginny you have to come, it's your—" Hermione was cut off.

"Gin, just go, I'll see you later." Harry said irritably, and glared at Hermione.

"Just don't take too long, Ginny. Come on Hermione." Ron said taking her arm and pulling her out. He had been quicker than Hermione this time, and Harry was grateful.

When Harry was sure they were out of earshot he turned to Ginny, "Are they scared of me or something? They've barely said a word to me." He sounded very angry.

"Harry, they don't know how to act around you. Give them a little time."

"Why did Hermione want to rush off to the prefect's compartment so quickly? Do I look like I will break the moment they talk to me?" He went on heatedly.

There was silence as she stared at him, the answer evident in her eyes.

"I do, don't I?" He said quietly.

"Well...maybe to them. But not to me." She replied and pulled him into a hug. He felt so estranged when it came to Ron and Hermione, but it was completely different with Ginny, which was so new to him.

"I guess you should go now." He said after a few minutes. And then he added seeing her look of protest, "No...I'm sure. I'll see you later."

Ginny left the compartment and Harry was alone for the first time since she arrived at Privet Drive; Neville and Luna had said that they would find him later. Tired of the silence and boredom after mere minutes, Harry decided to see what was in the parcel that Remus had given him. He unwrapped the brown paper slowly, uncovering a note covering an image on a picture frame. The note read:

_Harry,_

_Sirius left this just in case something happened to him. He wanted you to have it. I hope it will help, but __**remember**__ it is not really him, just an imprint. Take care, see you soon._

_Remus_

Harry removed the note to find a small portrait of Sirius, which looked just as he had the last time Harry had seen him. Tears rose to his eyes, as he became overwhelmed with emotion. The portrait was sleeping soundly within its frame and Harry was hesitant on waking him.

"Sirius." Harry said quietly. Nothing happened, so he said it again.

The portrait Sirius yawned, and slowly opened his eyes. "Harry!" Harry was speechless. He hadn't thought of what to say.

"You okay, you look like you've seen a ghost or something." The portrait Sirius looked concerned.

_'Does he know?' _Harry thought to himself.

"Right, you're talking to the portrait of your dead godfather, that's bound to be strange. I'm not really used to this yet." The portrait Sirius said, but grinning as if trying to reassure Harry.

"Neither am I." Harry admitted. There was a short silence until Harry added, "I miss you terribly."

"I'm sorry I didn't listen to Snape...I should have known better. I'm sorry for leaving you, Harry."

"It's not your fault. And it's not mine either." He said the last bit more to himself.

"Why would you _ever_ think it was your fault?" The portrait asked him, concerned.

"I've been trying to convince myself that it isn't. Ginny's been helping me."

"Ginny? Got a thing for her, do you?" Portrait-Sirius said raising his eyebrow, with a mischievous grin. "You Potters and your red heads…" He added, shaking his head.

Harry couldn't help but blush. "Shut up..."

Time passed much quicker than Harry would have imagined, as he filled Portrait-Sirius in about his summer. He was so like the real Sirius, and Harry had to keep reminding himself that he still _wasn't _alive. The more he talked to him, the more it made him ache for the real Sirius; it wasn't easy. Portrait-Sirius seemed to realize this and said,

"Harry I can see this is still very hard for you, so you can put me in your trunk for a while, I promise I won't mind."

"Are you sure, I—"

After making sure it was perfectly fine with Portrait-Sirius, (who said he wouldn't mind at all for, he would just sleep) Harry safely tucked it into his trunk.

With lack of anything else to do, Harry decided to change into his robes. After, he sat on the bench looking out the window at the passing countryside. He didn't know how long he sat there, but was interrupted by a soft knock on the compartment door. He was surprised that anyone would actually knock, so he slid the door open to see who it was.

To Harry's astonishment, it was the mysterious girl with the grey eyes. "Er...hello. You haven't seen a kitten have you? She escaped when someone opened my compartment door." She looked nervous as she asked him.

Harry noticed that she had a slight British accent, but not nearly as prominent as everyone else he knew. "No, I haven't, sorry. But if I do, I'll let you know."

"Thanks. I'm Cassidy by the way."

"I'm Harry. Nice to meet you. Er...what does your cat look like, so then I know what to look for."

"Oh, well she's a magical cat that changes colors...a meta-meta..."

"Metamorphagus? A friend of mine is one. I didn't know there were animals like that." He made a note to ask Tonks about it the next time he saw her.

"I didn't know there were people like that! But I'm new to this world, so I really don't know much." She shrugged her shoulders, and smiled nervously.

"I know how you feel." He muttered.

"Well, I should keep looking for her, thanks for your help. I'll see you around I suppose." And with that Harry was alone again.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ginny sat in the prefect's compartment, Hermione on one side, and Colin who was the other 5th year Gryffindor prefect on her other. The Head Boy and Girl were speaking to them, and Ginny wasn't paying much attention; her mind kept wandering to Harry. Everyone in the compartment stood up; she hadn't realized that they were each given an assignment of what corridor to patrol

"Did you pay attention at all, Ginny?" Colin asked with a smirk. Colin and Ginny had become very good friends since the beginning of her second year. He was able to accept Ginny despite the many mistakes she had made the previous year; she was very grateful for his friendship.

Ginny blushed, "Was it that obvious? I just had more important things on my mind."

"Oh? Would these more important things have to do with someone with 'eyes as green as a fresh pickled toad'?" Colin asked and then burst into laughter.

Ginny glared at him, "As a matter of fact, yes, but not in _that _way."

"Oh, really? I saw you holding his hand before." He said smirking again.

"We are friends, and nothing more. Now I have to go see how he is. I don't care about patrolling corridors. See you later, Colin!" She replied as she started towards the compartment where she left Harry.

"_Of course_, I'll cover for you Ginny!" He laughed at her retreating form.

She glanced back one more time, "Oh and for the record, it was Fred and George who came up with that horrible singing Valentine!"

When she arrived at the compartment that she left him in, she found Harry lying on his back, hands behind his head staring at the ceiling, already in full Hogwarts uniform. She lifted up his feet and sat down, replacing them on her lap.

"Shouldn't you be patrolling a corridor or something?" Harry asked her sounding as unconcerned as she felt about the matter.

"Colin's covering for me."

"Where are Ron and Hermione?" Harry asked, clearly trying to hide his longing for them to be there.

"I didn't wait up for them...do you think I should have?" She said a bit guiltily.

"I dunno...they should have come here themselves if they'd cared enough." He said a bit bitterly.

"Harry, don't be ridiculous, you know they do. They just need—"

"Time to adjust to me, yeah you've said that already. But don't you think the whole bloody summer is long enough?" She sighed, it was impossible to change his mind right now.

But she smiled almost smugly as the compartment door slid open to reveal the two in question. However, the smile was quickly removed from her face when she saw the guilty expressions that they both wore; apparently they had overheard Harry's short outburst.

"We didn't mean to give you the impression that we don't care." Tears were swimming in Hermione's eyes. "I'm so sorry."

"I'm sorry too, you just seemed so closed off…" Ron trailed off.

"I won't break...or explode. You're probably more concerned about the latter happening because that's what I did last time." Harry replied calmly, now sitting up.

"So...er...how have you been?" Ron began again.

Harry shrugged his shoulders, "Still healing, but if it wasn't for Ginny I would be a lot worse. She kept me together, as best she could." He glanced at Ginny as he said the last sentence, making her smile slightly.

Hermione wiped her eyes, as the tears fell. Ron glanced between the two of them and Ginny could only guess that it was beginning to bother him that his best friend had formed such a close relationship with his little sister. She imagined that if circumstances were different he would try to prevent it as best he could.

"I still miss him terribly though." Harry said after the slight pause.

"Of course you do." Hermione sniffled, as she enveloped Harry in a hug, and Ron and Ginny followed.

"Oh isn't this nice!" The sneering voice was impossible to not immediately recognize. Malfoy and his two troll like cronies, Crabbe and Goyle were standing in the doorway of their compartment. Malfoy's features were arranged in a haughty expression; while Crabbe and Goyle looked on stupidly.

"Get out Malfoy!" Ron said angrily.

"No, I haven't had my fun yet, Weasel."

"If I were you, I would, unless you _want_ me to use the Bat Bogey Hex." Ginny said nastily.

Ignoring Ginny, Malfoy went on, "So, Potter...did you have a nice summer? Or were you crying over your good for nothing godfather every waking moment?"

Harry nearly pounced on Malfoy ready to pummel him, but Ron, Hermione, and Ginny pulled him back. Harry struggled against the four of them but could not escape their grasp. "You better get out now, if you know what's good for you!" Harry seethed.

"Ooooh, I'm_ really_ scared!" Malfoy said in a mock worried tone. Crabbe and Goyle snickered stupidly.

Ginny let go of Harry, and pulled out her wand. She put it within inches of Malfoy's face. "Now." She said as calmly as possible, but all of the anger evident in her threatening stare.

Malfoy was about to reply, but Ginny didn't let him, she raised her fist about to punch him, but he was quicker than she expected; he grabbed her arm tightly and began to twist it back down towards her side, as hard as he could, making Ginny wince.

Harry's struggled against Ron and Hermione was isnstnly won as he slammed into Malfoy, removing him from the compartment with much force. He pinned him against the wall next to the compartment door, "If you EVER touch her again, you will NEVER live to see another day!" Harry reentered the compartment, slamming the door in the bewildered Slytherins' faces.

"Wow...I've seen you angry before, mate, but not like that." Ron said sounding very much impressed.

"Didn't that make you angry at all?" Harry asked Ron, a bit exasperatedly.

"Of courses I did, but you acted so quickly, that I didn't get a chance to er...how should I put this? Attack?" Ron replied, laughter rising in his voice.

Harry grinned half heartedly in response.

"Not that I don't think he deserved that, Harry, but don't forget Draco is still a prefect, and if he wanted to he could get you in _a lot _of trouble." Hermione reminded him.

"I don't really care if I get in trouble...I've got more important things on my mind." Ginny glanced at him, after his _clear _reference to the prophecy. He looked like he was mentally kicking himself, but he saved himself by quickly adding, "He's still a prefect? Even after everything he pulled last year?"

"Yes, unfortunately that's not for us to decide. Snape insisted that he's still responsible enough to uphold his duties." Hermione said exasperatedly. Much to Ginny's relief, and also Harry's, Hermione had not made a comment about his other statement.

Harry's eyes narrowed in disgust, "Dumbledore _allowed _Snape to make that call?"

Hermione looked as if she was going to respond, but their conversation was quickly ended by the arrival of Neville and Luna. "Did something happen in here, with Malfoy?" Neville asked as he took a seat next to Ron.

"Yes...he was just being Malfoy, and Harry got—" Hermione began.

"Out of control." Harry finished quietly and almost as if he didn't care.

"I wasn't going to say that." Hermione told him, wounded.

"I know, but it's true." Harry said, and began looking out the window again.

"I don't think you were out of control." Ginny said quietly, looking in his eyes for the first time since the incident a few minutes before. The conversation around them changed to other topics and neither of them paid attention.

Harry looked back at her, "You mean it?"

"Harry, that was the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me."

"It wasn't much..." He looked down at his hands.

"No, but it was sweet." She said smiling.

"Wouldn't you consider saving your life much nicer?" He turned to look at her.

"Well...that was more...noble. This time it was more because you care _about me_; because we're friends." She told him. "Thanks Harry."

"Anytime. Thanks for standing up for me too."

"No problem...but I'm disappointed." She pretended to pout, "I really did want to punch him!" She added impishly.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"So is there anything going on between them?" Neville inquired quietly, nodding towards Harry and Ginny who were talking inaudibly to one another.

"Not that we know of, but I suppose it's possible." Hermione responded, smiling. She didn't think it had happened yet, but she was pretty sure that it was very likely in the near future.

"Well if there isn't anything going on now, there will be soon." Luna said distantly. Hermione was surprised at how close Luna's comment was to Hermione's own thoughts.

"And what about you two?" Neville asked grinning.

"What are you talking about?" Ron asked, ears turning scarlet. Hermione's face was also a stunning shade of red.

She glanced at Ron out of the corner of her eyes, and noticed that he was doing the same. Hermione's fading blush crept back into her cheeks and she returned her gaze to her hands. Since Harry hadn't been around during the summer, Ron and Hermione got to spend a lot more time being alone together, and although they had not yet made it official, their relationship was definitely going beyond friendship. They had both agreed not to tell anyone just yet.

Neville and Luna began laughing, obviously at the embarrassment of their friends.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The rest of the train ride was peaceful and went rather quickly, without any more visits from Malfoy or any mysterious girls. Before they knew it they were in Hogsmeade Station. The six friends made their way off the train and headed towards the carriages pulled by thestrals.

Harry patted the thestral on its head before getting into the carriage. The ride towards the castle was very quiet. When they arrived, Harry stepped out of the carriage and looked at the towering castle.

"Are you going to be all right?" Ginny asked, slipping her arm through his, before they continued.

"I think so." He smiled to assure her. They continued walking up the steps to the giant oak doors into another year at Hogwarts.


	8. Back to Hogwarts

The Guardians

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these wonderful characters; they all belong to the magnificent J.K. Rowling. (Except for the original few that you'll be able to recognize yourselves!)

**Chapter 8: Back to Hogwarts**

Harry walked the familiar dark corridor. He had no idea why he was here again. There was no reason to be here again, nor did he _want_ to be here again. Too many bad memories. But for whatever reason he was there, and he couldn't turn around, so he kept walking down the dark, gloomy corridor until he reached the door. He put his hand on the knob and pulled it open. He entered the circular chamber, that was filled with its usual flickering candles that gave off an eerie blue tint. There were several more doors to choose from, but unlike his first encounter with this room, he now knew exactly which one it was; the only thing left to do was to go through it.

"_But why would you want to go back there?" _The little voice in the back of his mind said, but as always he ignored it and proceeded to his destination.

When he opened the door he saw it immediately, after all it was hard to miss. The black veil that hung in the archway billowed lightly, as if someone had touched it. If Harry listened close enough he could hear whispering, ghostly, voices. He began to walk closer as if in a trance, desperately trying to hear what was being said. As he got inched ever closer he could finally hear what they were saying.

"Harry! Harry!" They whispered.

"Sirius, is that you?" He neared even closer, reaching out his hand desperately wanting to touch the veil.

"That's it Harry, come closer." The voice encouraged.

He was almost there, is hand just inches from the thin veil; there were hundreds of voices calling his name.

It was then that Harry Potter woke up from his dream, and the whispering had not stopped; it had been Ron, Hermione, and Ginny.

"Are you okay? You were muttering, but we couldn't understand what you were saying." Ron inquired, with a deep look of concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine…I can't believe I fell asleep…were the students sorted yet?" He asked a bit confused; he still had the dream still on his mind.

"No, they're just about to, that's why we woke you up. But you missed the Sorting Hat's song." Hermione peered across the table at him. "We thought you'd like to see your cousin being sorted." She too, was obviously worried about him. But he ignored it because it was the same dream that had gotten him into the mess that was the end of his previous year at Hogwarts.

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat, signaling for the students to quiet down; the sorting was about to begin.

"Adams, Leo." Called Professor McGonagall. A brave looking boy with dark brown hair marched up to the stool, and Professor McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat upon his head. About a minute later, the hat shouted "GRYFFINDOR!" And the Gryffindors broke into applause. As the boy joined his new house, Professor McGonagall called up Leo's twin brother Perry. Perry looked a bit apprehensive as the hat was placed on his head, but looked very much relieved a minute later when he was joining his brother at the Gryffindor table.

The next first year to be sorted was Applegate, Aubrey. A small girl with curly blonde pigtails sat down on the stool and after a few minutes, was declared a Ravenclaw, and was cheered by her housemates.

Harry yawned and wished that his friends had let him stay asleep. The sorting wasn't that interesting. As his mind wandered, he scanned the staff table and saw that there was someone new. A woman that couldn't be much younger than Snape sat in the seat that Umbridge had sat in the previous year. The only teaching position that was usually open was Defense Against the Dark Arts, so Harry assumed that she must be the new professor.

"Do you suppose that's the new Defense teacher?" Harry whispered to Ron.

"Who? Her?" Ron said nodding towards the woman and Harry nodded in reply. "I reckon so, hopefully she's more qualified than Umbridge."

Hermione glanced over at the pair of them and gave them a stern glance, not unlike McGonagall's.

"Why do you care, it's not like you have family being sorted." Ron replied.

"No, but Harry does. And don't you want to find out who that mysterious girl is?" Hermione whispered, and glanced to the left of where McGonagall was standing. There sat the girl from the train, staring up at the ceiling as if entranced.

Ginny giggled. "You can tell she's muggle born."

Hermione smiled too, but quickly shushed them again, "Harry, she just called your cousin!"

Harry looked at the front of the room at the mention of Mark. Mark Evans was the average height for his age, with red hair, just like Lily's. Harry watched expectantly, hoping that Mark would also become a Gryffindor although it didn't really matter what house he was in, just as long as he wasn't a Slytherin, but Harry still hoped.

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouted after a few moments. Mark seemed to let out a sigh of relief. Harry clapped proudly for his cousin. As Mark sat down farther down the table, he caught Harry's eye and waved. His father must have told him that Harry would be there; Harry grinned in reply.

The rest of the ceremony seemed to drag on. Everyone was getting hungry, and Ron muttered, "I wish the house elves would just send the food up already." Hermione's eyes widened in anger and she was nearly set off, but Ginny quietly reminded her that sorting was not yet over. They begrudgingly sat and waited through the rest of the alphabet, when finally they reached Zain, David, who was sorted into Slytherin.

"Finally!" Ron muttered.

"Dumbledore still has to make his usual speech, and introduce the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, _and_ that girl still hasn't been sorted." Hermione was obviously still irritated about the comment Ron made about the house elves.

Ron groaned and put his head down on the table. Harry laughed, and silently agreed with Ron, but didn't dare voice this for fear Hermione would jump out of her seat. The Great Hall quieted down once again, as Dumbledore stood up.

"Welcome everyone! I hope that, despite the unfortunate circumstances of Lord Voldemort's return you and your families have enjoyed a safe summer." Most people in the room flinched at the sound of Voldemort's name, with the exception of Harry, and a few others. "I have a few things to address before our feast begins. Firstly, the forest is forbidden to everyone who does not wish to die a most excruciating and unnecessary death." The first years throught the great hall looked around bewilderedly, but Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he survey the room." Last year," He continued, "Professor Umbridge had placed a number of bans upon students, clubs and teams. Those bans are now permenatnly lifted from all that it applied to." The headmaster's eyes flitted to Harry for a few seconds.

"I am very delighted to tell you all, that we have a new staff member joining us this year. I am very pleased to introduce, your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Alixandra Callaway." Dumbledore continued; the students clapped politely but it was as if they needed something much more reassuring.

Dumbledore's blue eyes twinkled again as he added with a note of amusement, "I promise you all that she is _nothing _like her predecessor." With that the whole room, with the exception of Malfoy, and the rest of the former Inquisitorial Squad broke into cheers and louder, more appreciative applause.

"I would also like to welcome back Professor Trelawney to the Divination position, but I must add that Sybil has agreed to share her position with Firenze." Some people clapped, others groaned, but Parvati and Lavender let out squeals of delight. "Lastly, we have one more student to sort. This is her first time at any magical school and she will be beginning her sixth year here, which is a _first _in Hogwarts history." He paused looking over at the mysterious girl from the train. "Cassidy Lestrange, will you please take a seat at the stool to be sorted."

Harry's face went white. "No…this can't be…" His hands curled into fists. He glared at Cassidy. "She better not be sorted into Gryffindor, so help me—"

The Sorting Hat broke the deafening silence with a thunderous, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Hermione and Ginny let out a gasp of surprise at the same time.

Harry shook with rage; he couldn't find the words to express his anger. How could she have been the daughter of Bellatrix; where was she all these years? But at the same time he found himself asking, how _couldn't _she be? She looked just like Bellatrix, and there was no way it was just a coincidence. These possibilities raced through Harry's mind, and as they did, they seemed to become more and more in favor of the idea that Cassidy was Bellatrix's daughter. _"That explains the eyes."_ Harry thought. She had the exact same grey eyes as Sirius had. He lost his appetite at this revelation.

Ginny, Ron and Hermione stared at Harry, unsure of what to do or say. Cassidy began to walk to the Gryffindor table and they hoped she wouldn't sit near them, for Harry's sake. But, seeing as they were the only semi-familiar faces, she walked right towards them, and filled the empty space between Hermione and a fourth year girl.

"Hello." Hermione greeted her, clearly trying to sound as friendly as possible.

"Hi…is he okay?" She asked apprehensively, nodding in Harry's direction. He was still shaking and it was very obvious to those who didn't even know Harry that he was infuriated.

"Yes, he's fine." Hermione said, as she kicked Harry under the table.

"Ow! What the—" Harry began.

"Oh look! Food's here!" Ron said excitedly, immediately changing the subject.

"I'm not hungry." Harry replied flatly.

"Yes you are." Ginny fixed him with a severe expression.

"_No_, I'm not, so if you'll excuse me." And with that, he got up from the table and stalked across the Great Hall.

"He'll be okay." She told Ron and Hermione, trying to sound confident, even though she only half believed it herself.

"He doesn't know the password." Hermione whispered, tears forming in her eyes.

"I doubt he's going to Gryffindor Tower anyway." Ginny watched him walk out of the Great Hall, and then turned her gaze to the Professors' table. She wanted to see if Dumbledore noticed, and sure enough the headmaster was staring concernedly after Harry as he exited the Great Hall. When Harry stormed out of the doors, Dumbledore turned to the Gryffindor table, and caught Ginny's eye. He turned his head slightly, signaling Ginny to follow Harry.

She nodded and stood up from her place at the table, "I'm going to see if he's okay."

"No Gin, let me go. _I'm_ his best friend." Ron said, as he too stood up. Ginny raised one eyebrow at him, and Hermione grabbed the back of his robes, pulling him back in his seat.

"Aren't you starving?" Hermione prompted, nodding at his food. Ginny smiled triumphantly and excused herself from the table.

"Hermione, why did you stop _me _and not _her_!" Ron asked exasperatedly.

"_Because_, he will _talk_ to Ginny. They spent the whole summer together."

"Exactly, he hasn't seen us! He should talk to _us_."

Hermione sighed, "Never mind."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ginny opened the double doors, and surveyed the grounds in front of her for a moment, wondering where Harry would go. She scanned the land, and as her eyes adjusted to the light, she was able to see a figure in the distance. She continued outside, and followed her brooding friend.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Harry sat under the very same tree that a young James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew once sat, many years before. He put his head in his hands and took a deep breath, trying his hardest not to cry, because he hated crying. "I can't do this anymore…this isn't fair. I don't _want _to do this anymore." He thought aloud.

"Yes, but you have to, you're the only one who can, Harry."

Harry jumped, "_Don't do that_ Ginny. Why did you follow me anyway? I want to be alone."

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to see if you were all right. I wanted to make sure that you wouldn't do anything…anything…" she trailed off.

"Anything what? Do you mean try and commit suicide? I'm not _that _stupid Ginny." He retorted indignantly.

"I know that Harry…I just…you never know. Besides, what you just said doesn't make my assumptions wrong now does it?"

"Yes it does. Because I would never do that. I know I'm the only one who can save this damn world…" He couldn't keep the his tone from sounding bitter; most people would have thought he'd have come to terms with this by now.

"You know we'll all do whatever we can to help you." She knelt down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. He chanced a glance at her and she had tears in her eyes.

"Yeah, but in the end, _I _have to be the one to _kill_…" The last word held the most bitterness.

"Look...you're going to be okay, I know you are. And about Cassidy, just because she's a Lestrange does NOT mean that she's evil, _especially _if she was just sorted into Gryffindor."

"That means absolutely nothing to me. Wormtail was a Gryffindor, and look what he ended up doing." Harry stated.

Ginny sighed, "Well, you don't know her, and she couldn't have known her mother, because she's been in jail for most of Cassidy's life."

"Doesn't mean she's not like her…"

"Harry, you are so stubborn! Sirius was related to her, and he was not like that _at all_!" Ginny's voice was rising; Harry tore his gaze away from his hands again and stared at her in shock. She rarely ever lost her temper with him.

"No one said you have to talk to her, Harry." She began again, regaining her composure, "You don't even have to acknowledge that she exists, but you shouldn't be rude on purpose. Try to give her a chance."

He looked at her hopelessly, "I'm not making any promises."

Ginny smiled sympathetically, "Shall we make our way back to the feast, before Ron eats everything in sight?" She stood up and held out her hand to assist him.

He pulled Ginny into a hug, "Thank you," he said quietly into her hair.

He knew that the upcoming term was going to be difficult, but with Ginny by his side, he knew that he could pull through if he really put his heart in it.


	9. Cassidy and Callaway

The Guardians

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these wonderful characters; they all belong to the magnificent J.K. Rowling. (Except for the original few that you'll be able to recognize yourselves!)

**Chapter 9: Cassidy and Callaway**

Professor Alixandra Callaway was the first to enter the Great Hall the next morning. She looked around the enormous room, and smiled. She hadn't been back to Hogwarts since she had left it nearly twenty years before. Much to her relief, it had not changed at all, which she could not say for most aspects of her life. Despite all of the bad things that had happened, it was still there, exactly the same as it was when she had first walked through its doors at the age of eleven.

"Hasn't changed one bit, has it Alixandra?" Came the voice of Albus Dumbledore from behind her.

"No…not at all, Headmaster." Alixandra replied, staring up at the enchanted ceiling. She turned to face him. "I've missed this place." However, there was no need for her to say it, because it was written all over her face.

Dumbledore smiled, "I'm very glad to have you back here." The expression on his face then turned to a tired one. "Not many people want this position, I am grateful that you accepted it."

Alixandra knew that the only other person who had applied for the job was Severus Snape. From what she was told, he _always _applied for the job when it was open, and she was also told that it was _always _open. "Maybe I'll be able to break the curse of the Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers!" She joked.

Dumbledore chuckled, "One can only hope. We've gone through so many Defense professors, but only one of them was entirely qualified."

"Only one?" Alixandra asked, shocked.

Dumbledore smiled again, "Yes, and if I remember correctly, you were quite good friends with him back in your school years here." Seeing the confused look on her face, he continued, "Remus Lupin."

An astonished look graced the new professor's young face, "Remus?! How is he! _Where _is he?!" She had not seen Remus for years. When James and Lily were killed, he pretty much became a recluse and stayed locked away in his flat. Alix was only successful at getting inside a couple of times and even then he was like a ghost of the man she once knew. Of course she hadn't blamed Remus; for she too had pretty much turned her back on the wizarding world when it had turned its back on her. As she reflected on him, she became overwhelmed with grief.

Dumbledore surveyed her from behind his half moon spectacles, "Ah, well he is doing okay. There is a lot you still don't know, but I promise you will be filled in soon enough."

The concern was visible on her face, "Why, what else has happened, aside from the return of Voldemort?" She didn't hesitate to say his name. There was no reason to; after all, it was _just _a name.

Dumbledore sighed, and his blue eyes were not twinkling like they had been a few minutes before. "Now is not the time, nor the place for this discussion. The students will be coming in very soon."

"I understand." She replied, still a little worried, for she had no idea what could be troubling the Headmaster. But she tried to push that thought aside, because today was supposed to be exciting for her.

Dumbledore smiled at her sadly as they both began to make their way to the staff table, as their fellow professors, as well as students, began to fill the Great Hall.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Cassidy Lestrange was the first to wake up in her dormitory that morning. She still couldn't believe that she was a _witch_; a few weeks ago, witches were just part of the fairy tales that she read when she was a child, but now they were _real_ and she was one of them!

Over the summer holiday, not only had she learned that she was a witch, but she also learned many basic spells. Almost every day, Professor Dumbledore, or some other wizards, (some professors, some not) would come to her house to help her catch up to the level of the rest of the students in her year. She learned more than she could have imagined, although, she did realize that her abilities would not match those of her peers (who had five more years under their belts).

She got out of bed and quickly put on her uniform. When she finished dressing, everyone else in the dormitory was still deeply asleep, so she headed downstairs. When she reached the Common Room, there was only one person occupying it. She recognized this boy as Harry, the one who angrily left the feast the previous night. He glanced up at her when she walked in, but his guarded gaze quickly flitted back to the empty fireplace.

She thought about saying hello, but quickly changed her mind exited the Common Room. Cassidy had no idea where she was going, but she didn't mind. She liked exploring for herself, although a map _would_ be useful.

After wandering the corridors and going down a few flights of stairs, she was able to find her way to the Great Hall, where several other students were heading. She went inside and walked across the vast room to the Gryffindor House table.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Harry sat in the Common Room, waiting for everyone else to wake up. He had hardly slept the night before, as usual. Though, this time it was not due to dreams, but to presence of Cassidy Lestrange in Gryffindor House.

Deep down, he knew it wasn't her fault. She had no idea, like Ginny said last night. But looking at her made him think about Sirius' death, which was never good for him. He closed his eyes and willed those thoughts away. "Now is not the time," he told himself.

"Not the time for what?" Ron's voice came from the stairs leading to the boy's dormitory.

"Nothing, I was just talking to myself." Harry replied.

Ron nodded half heatedly, and Harry instantly felt guilty. He knew he owed it to both Ron and Hermione to tell them what had been going on. But Ron changed the subject, "How long have you been up?"

"A few hours, I suppose. I wasn't sleeping well, so I decided to get up." Harry replied, trying to sound more cheerful, but he that he couldn't fool Ron.

Ron nodded, "You weren't dreaming again were you?' He was obviously referencing last night's episode before the sorting.

"No, I just had a lot on my mind." He wanted to go on and explain just what it was but he needed both Ron and Hermione to be there at once _and _he needed to make sure that there was no chance of being eavesdropped on.

A few minutes later, Hermione came down the girl's staircase, followed by Ginny. "Good morning!" Hermione said brightly.

"Morning." Both of the boys said in unison. Harry reluctantly got up from his chair and the four of them made their way to the Great Hall together.

As always, Professor McGonagall walked around handing out schedules to the Gryffindor students. When she got to Harry, she looked at him and said "Very impressive Potter! I see you were able to get an 'O' in Potions." Harry looked back up at her, and she winked at him.

"Thanks Professor." Harry grinned.

"Don't thank me, Potter, you obviously earned it!" She responded, in a tone that suggested she didn't have a clue what he was talking about. "By the way, you also made Quidditch Captain, so, I believe this is yours!" She took a pin out of her pocket and handed it to Harry. It was a scarlet and gold badge with the word "Captain" engraved on it.

Harry's grin widened. "You can set up trials whenever it's convenient for you. I expect a successful team this year, Potter." She added, before she continued down the Gryffindor table handing out the rest of the schedules.

"Hey Harry, d'you reckon I'll be able to get back on the team?" Ron asked excitedly.

"Well, I suppose you'll have to attend trials first, because it's only fair, but I'm sure you'll make it." Harry replied, grinning, "You too, Gin!"

He was grateful to finally have something to sufficiently distract him from his brooding thoughts. He immediately jumped into a conversation with Ron about potential players for their new team.

As they ate breakfast, the trio exchanged schedules to compare classes. Hermione, of course getting all eleven O.W.L's was in every class that Harry and Ron were in and then some. Harry and Ron were lucky enough to have a free period right after breakfast, Hermione had Arithmancy, and Ginny, was going to be the first to experience their new professor.

"Do you think Professor Callaway will know what she's doing? We haven't had a...er... _normal_ professor in that class since Remus. I would say '_qualified_' professor, but the Moody imposter was perfectly qualified." Hermione stated, not bothering to hide her concern.

"Except that he was a Death Eater!" said Ron through a mouthful of eggs.

"Ron, please don't talk while you're chewing. It's absolutely revolting." Hermione added, giving Ron a bit of a disgusted look. "Well I better get going; I don't want to be late to Arithmancy on the first day. See you all later!"

"Come on, we might as well go up to the Common Room now, since Ginny is leaving too." said Harry as he and Ron finished their breakfast. The three of them made their way to the entrance hall, "And we'll discuss when to hold Quidditch trials, shall we?"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Hermione smiled to herself when she saw who the first person in the Arithmancy classroom was. She knew that the only way to ease the tension that Harry had caused the night before was to be friendly. "Hello Cassidy. I'm Hermione Granger. How do you like Hogwarts so far?"

Cassidy turned around, a look of delight coming across her features. She _did _look a lot like her mother, Hermione noted, but only because of the fact that they were both pretty (for Bella that had changed a bit, but she _had _been beautiful at one point). Cassidy had that resolute kindness about her, while her mother had never given that impression. "Oh, I love it. It's quite amazing how…well, _magical_ everything is." She laughed a little, "Look at me I sound like I'm five years old."

Hermione laughed too, "Well I'm muggle-born, so I understand exactly what you mean. Nothing beats the first impression of Hogwarts." Cassidy motioned for the still standing Hermione to take the seat next to her. "Where are you from anyway?"

"Oh…all over, actually. My parents…well, not my _real _parents, the ones who adopted me, travel all over the world. We've lived in Africa, Australia, Italy, France, Greece…you name it, and I've probably been there." Hermione enjoyed how easy it was to have a conversation with Cassidy.

"Were your parents okay with letting you come to Hogwarts? I mean, I know it's very overwhelming and unbelievable for muggle parents." Hermione tried to seem as casual with the conversation as possible, but she wanted to know more about this girl; especially the reason _why _her mother would let her end up with a muggle couple. She didn't know much about Bellatrix, but she could figure enough out, being that she was a Death Eater. A Death Eater would never willingly leave their own child in the hands of a muggle.

"Oh yes, mum and dad were so proud. They knew that there was something different about me from the moment they took me home. I was only about seven years old then, but they just _knew_." As if she read Hermione's mind, she pressed on, "I don't know much about my real parents, except that my mother left me at the orphanage when I was only a few months old. The matrons there said that my mother didn't give a reason; she just left me. And my father…there was no mention of him at all, aside from his last name, the one I have now." Cassidy's eyes seemed to have gotten a little sadder. She would relate well to Harry, Hermione thought, but Harry was just too stubborn as of right now.

"Did your adoptive parents give you the name Cassidy?" Hermione knew she was being nosy, but she had to find out as much as she could while the girl was still talking.

"Well yes…sort of. My _real _name is Cassiopeia, you know, like the star. But my parents found that rather odd, so they just shortened it to Cassidy. I haven't used the name Lestrange since I left the orphanage, but my parents insisted that if I were to go into this world, I should take the name that my real parents had given me, just in case they were to turn up."

Hermione's eyes widened, slightly. If anything, that was the worst possible thing to do. Yet, Dumbledore had obviously not insisted on changing it, and that was really disturbing to Hermione. But Dumbledore had his reasons for everything, didn't he? Still, she didn't understand it.

"Hermione, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I…look Cassidy, there's just some things you aren't informed of yet, and it definitely is not my place to tell you." She truly believed that it was Dumbledore's duty to inform the girl that her parents were evil wizards out to destroy people like her adoptive parents, but _clearly _Dumbledore had a different idea.

Cassidy looked puzzled at Hermione, but accepted her reason without protest. The rest of the class went on without mention of Cassidy's past. When the two girls were gathering their things together at the end of class, Hermione was just about to ask her new friend what she had next, when Cassidy asked the question that Hermione had been dreading to answer all period long. "Hermione…you're friends with that Harry Potter boy, aren't you?"

"Yes…he's one of my best friends. Why?" Hermione was trying to act as innocent as possible. But, she knew that she'd have to give the girl some sort of answer, even though the _real _answer was up to Harry to reveal.

"Well…it's just that I get the impression that he doesn't like me very much, and I don't know how that could be, because I've never met anyone from this school before in my life." She said it all rather fast. Hermione could tell that it was bothering her, and she couldn't really blame the girl. Cassidy did not have the slightest idea that her biological parents had decided to become murders and that one of her mother's victims was Harry's godfather.

"I really wish I could tell you. But like I said before, there's already so much that you don't know. It'd make it well…upsetting, and rather confusing. Harry's the one to ask, and even though he doesn't seem very…welcoming, you _should _try talking to him. He's really a nice person once you get to know him. It's just that he's been through an awful lot and he's not too keen on opening up to people he doesn't know very well." There. It was the best she could do without giving too much away; _without giving __**anything**__ away. You probably just confused her more!_

"If anyone can give you answers about your family…it's Harry." She thought that this would give her the incentive she needed to talk to Harry. Harry would, of course, be difficult at first, but she was sure he'd eventually oblige.

Cassidy gave her a sort of discouraged look and shrugged her shoulders, "Do you think you can show me the way to Defense Against the Dark Arts…I'm still rather overwhelmed by the moving staircases and all. I'd hate to get lost. A map would be ruddy useful, you know?"

Hermione smiled wryly, "If you get Harry to talk to you, you should ask him about _his _map." And with that, they headed off to meet Professor Callaway, something Hermione had been looking forward to since the feast the night before.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Harry and Ron walked to the third floor for Defense, knowing that Hermione would already be there, but definitely not expecting her to be talking to Cassidy Lestrange, as if they were the best of friends. Harry chose not to say or do anything that would set Hermione off about accepting Cassidy.

Ron however, had a different idea. "I can't believe she's trying to make friends with that girl! Doesn't she have any respect for your friendship at all?"

Harry remained silent, merely shrugging at Ron. Even though Ron had not said it loud enough for Hermione to hear, she still managed to figure out what it was that Ron was implying. She excused herself from Cassidy and said to Ron, in a voice so only he and Harry could hear, "Just because Harry has a problem with her, doesn't mean _we _have to. She's really very sweet."

"Yes, until your back is turned and she hexes you into next week."

"Honestly Ron!"

"Just drop it, okay? I don't care if you're friends with her or not." Harry finally spoke up. He wasn't really in the mood for Ron and Hermione's bickering, so he tried to put a stop to it as quickly as it began. He left the two of them staring in his wake, as he made his way into the classroom, but not before he heard Ron whisper to Hermione.

"We _really _have to talk to him, Hermione...something isn't right with him lately." Choosing to ignore this, Harry continued into the classroom and took a seat towards the middle. He knew Ron was right. They really did have to talk, but Harry was dreading it. He didn't want to tell his friends what destiny had in store for him.

When Ron and Hermione entered the class, they took the two empty seats to his right, and Cassidy took the last seat, next to Hermione. They only had to wait a few minutes until their newest Defense professor entered the room.

"Now, I know that you haven't had a very stable experience in this particular class. However, I am hopeful that this will be a good year and that I will be able to stay longer than any of your previous professors have." She smiled a little and then continued, "I don't want to push you too hard today since I know you haven't really had practical experience in quite some time, due to your previous professor's…er, methods of teaching. So we're going to play a little 'getting to know you' type of game. Each person will tell me their name and a little something about themselves. I'll start, and then you," she said, pointing to Neville, "will continue."

"I'm Professor Callaway, as you already know. Hmm…let's see, ah yes--I've been away from the wizarding world for nearly fifteen years, that is, until Professor Dumbledore offered me this position." She glanced over at Neville with a small smile as if to signal his turn.

"Er…I'm Neville Longbottom. I'm exceptionally good at Herbology." He said, slightly blushing.

Professor Callaway raised an eyebrow. "Ah yes, Professor Sprout was talking about you last night at the feast. From what she says, you're more than just _exceptional_, Neville! Don't be so modest!" At this, Neville turned positively crimson. It was Seamus' turn after Neville, but Harry had stopped listening. He was more intrigued about what Professor Callaway had said. _Fifteen years…that meant that there was a great chance that Voldemort had something to do with it._ Harry had no idea how long he had been lost in this thought, but a nudge from Ron meant that it was his turn.

"Right, sorry. I'm Harry Potter," admittedly, Harry felt quite stupid, because usually there was no need for him to state his name. "When Umbridge wasn't teaching us properly last year, I taught a few students ways to protect themselves just in case they came up against Voldemort or the Death Eaters."

"Very impressive, Mr. Potter. I'd really like to hear more about that. Will you stop by later today, whenever you have free time?"

Harry nodded quietly, wondering if Professor Callaway's real question was if Harry was willing to start the D.A. again. The truth was that he wanted to. As he had realized earlier at the prospect of Quidditch beginning again, he longed for any sort of distraction, especially one that was useful.


	10. Some Answers

The Guardians

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these wonderful characters; they all belong to the magnificent J.K. Rowling. (Except for the original few that you'll be able to recognize yourselves!)

Chapter 10: Some Answers

Harry was on his way to talk with Professor Callaway after Herbology, as she had asked of him during their class. He was going to miss the beginning of lunch, but he wasn't that hungry lately so it didn't really matter. He had decided that tonight was the night he was going to tell Ron and Hermione about the contents of the prophecy. He knew he had to do it, because on more than one occasion he had caught Ron and Hermione eyeing him suspiciously. Harry had known them long enough to see right through the nervous smiles they shot him when he would catch them whispering to each other.

"You're going the wrong way Mr. Potter." A familiar voice came from behind him. Harry turned around to see Ginny grinning at him. "Not going to lunch then, I presume?"

"Professor Callaway wanted to talk to me about the D.A. And what about you? You're going the opposite way as well. Where are _you _going?" He raised an eyebrow, grinning half-heartedly.

Not bothering to hide her concern, Ginny said, "I've got to go back to the common room quickly. Harry, are you okay? You don't look so good. Did you sleep last night?"

"Do I ever?" Not waiting for a reply, Harry continued, "It's just being with Ron and Hermione all day. I feel guilty that I haven't told them yet. I think I'm going to do it later tonight." He really wanted to ask Ginny to stick around for it, but he wasn't sure if she would After all she had her own life and she was no longer forced to stay with _only him_. They were back at Hogwarts now, and he was sure she'd want to spend time with her own friends.

"Are you going to be all right? I mean, if you want, I could stay with you for moral support." She smiled a little, and it amazed Harry how she hadn't faltered or blushed once. He remembered when she was younger; she wasn't even able to speak a word to him without stuttering like mad. _But she's not a little girl anymore, and she doesn't have a crush on you, so why would she feel embarrassed?_

"Er…well if you don't have anything more important to do, then yeah, sure." He tried to act as if he hadn't really needed her there, but he knew that he probably wouldn't be able to get through it without her. She was one of the only people he had ever shared these particular fears with.

"Harry, there _isn't_ anything more important." In that instant, Ginny's tone became serious, and she patted his arm lightly in reassurance. "You should go, before Professor Callaway thinks you're not going to show up. I'll save you a seat at lunch."

"Thanks Ginny, I really don't know what I--" She cut him off with a wave of her hand, "See you!" And with that she walked away, leaving him to head to Professor Callaway's office on his own.

When Harry arrived at her office, his new professor was sitting at her desk reading a book. Upon his entrance, she looked up, and a small smile crossed her face. "Hello Harry. Sit down. I'll try to make this quick, I know you probably want to get to lunch." Harry sat down in the chair he had sat in on numerous occasions, with many different professors. He was glad to see that all of Umbridge's horrendous kittens were nowhere in sight. So far, Professor Callaway seemed quite normal from his perspective.

"Professor Dumbledore told me that if I wanted to _really _know about your Defense class that I'd have to ask you personally, because none of the teachers were aware of what you did there, as it was a secret."

"Yes, well Umbridge wasn't exactly fond of practical defense. She had us learn by reading from a book in class. Even Hermione was against that, and she _loves _to read." Harry began, but quickly realized that he didn't know where to go from there, because he didn't really know which direction Professor Callaway had been aiming at, so instead, he asked, "What exactly do you want to know, Professor? If you're planning on teaching us like er…a real teacher, then why are you so interested in the D.A?"

She seemed somewhat amused at his reference to being a 'real teacher.' "At first, I only wanted to know what sort of things you taught so that I could plan some of my lessons around that or incorporate some of what you did, since, from what I've heard, not everyone in the school was involved. But, I must confess that ever since our class, earlier today, I have been thinking about possibly asking you to restart it." She studied him for a moment to see if his expression would give away his thoughts on the matter. "Of course, I would be there to assist you. A student could not be asked to carry that much of a burden, in addition to other responsibilities."

Seeing the slight bit of apprehension on his face, she pressed on kindly, "I know you've been through a lot in your life, and I understand…more than you know, actually. But that's why the students that you taught were so successful. They look up to you, Harry. Believe it or not, you've produced more results from these students than any other teacher has."

Harry recognized the look in her eyes as something similar to Hermione's when she had originally suggested the D.A. That look told Harry that she believed in him, and that she was proud that he had taken such a great responsibility into his own hands. Harry couldn't really register _why _she'd feel proud, since she had only known him this one day, but it was still unmistakable. "That's not really true. Professor Lupin produced amazing results too. So did Barty Crouch Jr…the one who pretended to be Moody. I learned most of it from the two of them, actually." He paused, weighing the decision in his mind. "I'll do it if you really want me to. But, I don't know how many people will join. There weren't any Slytherin's last year, and I doubt we'll get any this year."

"You're probably right about that, however, we will try to recruit as many people as we possibly can. I'll draw up a flier and have it posted in each of the four Common Rooms so that anyone who is interested can sign up, and we'll go from there. Thank you Harry, you can go to lunch now." She smiled at him as he rose from his chair.

Harry turned to go, but was suddenly compelled to ask a question that he probably wouldn't normally have asked. "Professor, did you know my parents?" A look that Harry couldn't quite interpret crossed her features, and this urged him to continue, "I don't mean to pry or anything, I just thought that since you said you understood more than I knew—"

She smiled sadly at him, "Yes…I knew them. We were good friends. Lily, James, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black and I were all in Gryffindor the same year." Her eyes seemed to darken at the mention of Sirius' name, but it quickly disappeared, and Harry wasn't sure if he had imagined it or not. He was about to tell her about Sirius' innocence and then his death, but was reminded by a pang in his heart that his name had yet to be cleared by the Ministry because Peter was still on the loose.

"You know, I can tell that you've got your father's spirit, Harry. Always determined to help those he cares about, yet still able to have a good time." She added fondly. "Now, go to lunch before you miss it completely."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Later that night, after their first day of classes had come to a close, Harry sat nervously in his favorite armchair in front of the fire in the Gryffindor Common Room. He was waiting for it to clear out, leaving himself, Ron, Hermione and Ginny alone to talk. He had yet to tell his two friends that he had actually wanted to talk, and Ginny kept shooting him glances from her place at the table in the corner. Harry was pretending to be lost in thought in an attempt to ignore her, when all of a sudden he was hit in the side of the head with a book.

"Merlin, Ginny, you didn't have to do that! I _saw _you." Harry glared at her, rubbing the spot on his head where she had hit him. Ron was roaring with laughter by now, and Hermione looked as if she was torn between amusement and horror at the fact that Ginny had, so casually, thrown a book at Harry's head for what she thought was no reason.

Ginny looked purely satisfied, however. "Then _maybe_ you should actually acknowledge that you saw me then. Perhaps next time I won't have to throw a book at you."

Harry shook his head wearily. "Ginny…I really don't know if I want to--"

"I'm _not _letting you get away with this. You said you would!"

"There are too many people around right now anyway." Harry wasn't sure why he kept making excuses; it was just that, telling them was going to be harder than he thought. What if they didn't want to be his friends anymore because he had to become a murderer? Deep down he knew how ridiculous that thought was, but it didn't change the fact that he still had to tell his best friends what he was to become.

"Like hell there are. I only see two other people and they're first years. We'll just tell them to go up to bed, and that it's too late for them to be down here." He had to hand it to her, she really did think of everything. She didn't even wait for his response before she proceeded to walk over to the two first year boys that were sitting in a corner on the opposite end of the Common Room. The pair seemed frightened enough; they nodded at Ginny as if they were afraid of what she'd do if they _didn't_ listen to her, and then quickly swept up the stairs.

As Ginny resumed her previous position, Hermione spoke up for the first time since the book had been thrown. "What's going on? Is this something from the summer?" Harry knew that she had probably been trying to piece things together before he began his explanation.

"Well, yes, in a way. It's about the prophecy, the first one that was destroyed at the Department of Mysteries."

And then it all finally spilled out, after being kept from Ron and Hermione for months. He told them how Dumbledore had shown him the memory of Professor Trelawney from the Pensieve, about how the prophecy could have applied to himself or Neville, and finally, the inevitable happening: Harry had to become a murderer or be murdered himself. By the time Harry had finished, both Ron and Hermione were pale and speechless, but Ginny looked over at Harry proudly.

"Why did…V-Voldemort choose you? I mean, he had no idea which one of you it could have been." Hermione had finally spoken after what seemed like ages of both her and Ron just staring at Harry.

"Dumbledore said that it was Voldemort's choice and nothing else. For whatever reason, he thought that I was more threatening than Neville, so he went with me." Harry found himself feeling immensely relieved now that they knew; it was as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

"Well, it's a good thing he chose you really…I mean Neville isn't nearly as skilled as you are. Unless that's a consequence of the killing curse backfiring or something?" Ron added. "And why'd you decide to tell Ginny first anyway?" He seemed to add that as an afterthought.

Hermione smacked Ron lightly on the arm, "Honestly Ron! First of all, Neville has become a much better wizard in the last year, and why _wouldn't_ Harry tell Ginny? They spent the whole summer together!"

"Actually, he didn't _tell _me anything. I well…sort of tapped into his dream. And I saw everything as Harry saw it, except not through his eyes. I was just there, but no one else could see me. It's quite confusing if you think about it."

"You were _in_ his dream?" Ron asked incredulously, while Hermione sat next to him, apparently lost in thought. She was probably trying to figure out a logical explanation for it all, though Harry, having thought about it himself a million times over, could not think of one.

"I think…we should all go to bed." She said at last. "Tomorrow I'm going to go to the library during my free time and try to find out how that could have possibly happened. Ginny, was that the only time that it happened?"

"Yes…it was the first night I was there. Harry still had the dream, but I never did after that." Hermione still had the determined look on her face that clearly meant that every spare moment she had the following day, would be spent in the library.

They said their goodnights, but Harry was still not planning on going up to bed just yet and Ginny seemed to have the same idea. "Harry, you coming?" Ron asked as he headed to the staircase.

"I'll be up in a few minutes." He replied. Ron looked a little skeptical at leaving Harry and Ginny alone in the Common Room together, but he proceeded up the stairs anyway.

"Thank you." Harry simply said, looking gratefully in Ginny's direction.

"For what, throwing a book at you?" Her brown eyes glinted mischievously, as she picked up another book from her stack on the table, waving it menacingly.

"_No." _He grinned, swiftly picking up a throw pillow and flinging it at Ginny, whose lightning fast reflexes came into action, dropped the book and caught the pillow with both hands.

She walked toward him slowly, waving the pillow threateningly, "You forgot, didn't you Mr. Potter; who was it that replaced you as seeker last year?"

"Alright, alright, truce!" He covered his head with both hands, "You know, killing me with that pillow won't get you many friends. The wizarding world needs me!" He said smugly.

She hit him lightly in the face with the pillow, and proceeded to squeeze into the small space next to him. "You're silly, Harry."

"You know…I missed you today. It was the first time we were really separated since the beginning of the summer." He said almost inaudibly, as he laced his fingers into hers. He didn't know why he wasn't hesitant about the whole thing, he didn't seem to care when it came to her. Somehow, oddly, it felt right, giving him absolutely no reason for second-guessing.

"I missed you too." She said as she laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. "I almost wish we were back at your house. Sometimes school seems like too much, you know?"

"Yes, but at least we don't have to stay locked in one room now. But, if I did have to choose one person to be locked in a room with for eternity, it would definitely be you." He hadn't realized that he had said this out loud until Ginny lifted her head from his shoulder and stared at him, studying his face. He wasn't sure why he'd said it either, but it didn't matter, because he knew that it was the truth.

"I'd choose you too." And with that, she kissed his cheek lightly, and got up out of their shared chair. "Goodnight Harry."

He smiled to himself. It was the first real smile that came to his face since he had been back at Hogwarts. Harry Potter was falling for Ginny Weasley and it could, quite possibly, be the best thing that had ever happened to him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The next day was Harry's first Potions class of the term. Despite the fact that Snape was aware of everything that went on during the previous term, he still displayed every ounce of hatred that he had for Harry, who, because of having other things on his mind, was exceptionally indifferent about the whole thing. Instead, he was more focused on the person whom Cassidy had chosen to sit next to. He didn't hesitate to point this out to Ron and Hermione.

"Well, you can't really blame her, can you? It's not like she knows that her mother nearly killed both of his parents." Hermione tried to rationalize the situation, but Ron was whole-heartedly on Harry's side.

"But _he _knows. He could tell her to go sit somewhere else…"

"Well Neville isn't that type of person, he wouldn't--"

"And what type of person would that be, Hermione? Because obviously you're implying that _I'm _that type of person." Harry spat. He was hoping that with everything he had told them last night, she wouldn't have had time to harp on him about talking to Cassidy. They'd only been back to school for two days, and already Hermione was badgering him to 'do the right thing' no matter how much they had disagreed about it.

"No, I didn't mean it like that! Harry, just _please _try to see this from a different perspective! Obviously you wouldn't be reacting this way if it was say…one of the Aurors that she killed that night."

"Well no, I wouldn't, but I would still care that they were dead, it just wouldn't be personal." He had no idea where she was going with this.

Ron seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Harry, "What point are you trying to make?"

Hermione never got the chance to make her point because at that moment, Snape stepped in front of their table and said in a hushed voice, "Am I going to have to separate the three of you on our first day of class? This is neither the time nor place for you to be discussing your innermost feelings and personal vendettas. Five points from Gryffindor, as my warning. I don't want to hear another word from the three of you for the rest of this class."

"You really want me to talk to her then?" Harry whispered fiercely a few minutes later, when Snape was well out of earshot. "I'll talk to her today. But not until I talk to Neville."

Hermione only nodded in understanding, and for the rest of the class, they obeyed Snape's wishes, and didn't speak to each other. At the end of class, Harry waited for Neville who, much to Harry's dismay seemed to have been getting on pretty well with Cassidy. "Neville, can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Hi Harry! Is it about the D.A., are you starting it again?" He looked excited, and Harry didn't have the heart to change the subject right away.

"Actually no, it's not about that, but now that you mention it, Professor Callaway asked me to start it again and I agreed. You're in then?" He couldn't help but grin at his friend.

"Yeah, definitely! I'll let Luna know too; she's going to be really excited!"

"What exactly is the D.A.?" A shy voice came from behind them and Harry turned to see Cassidy walking close by. He looked at Neville as if for encouragement, who nodded as if to say, "It's alright, she really isn't that bad."

"Erm…well if you want to know _why_ it began, it's a long story." He struggled with himself to say the rest but he eventually spit it out, "If you want…I could explain it to you a little later?"

"Believe me you'll want to know all about why we started it." Neville added excitedly. "You should definitely join; it would help you a lot."

"Well I'll have to wait until I hear about it won't I?" She smiled shyly and continued, "But yes, that'd be great, thank you…it's Harry isn't it?"

Harry nodded, both amazed and yet grateful that she had not been sure of who he was. _That had to be the first time since I became a part of the wizarding world that someone actually had to ask who I was._

"See you later, then!" And she walked off in the direction of her next class, leaving Harry free to speak to Neville, although now it was almost unnecessary.

"She's what you wanted to talk about, am I right? She's honestly not that bad, Harry. I felt the same as you did when I heard her name being called at the sorting, but we have to give her a chance."

"I see that now. It's amazing though, isn't it, how she can look so much like a person, yet not _truly _resemble them one bit?"

"Frightening, actually." Neville concluded, patting Harry on the back.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

That night, back in the Common Room, Ginny sat watching Harry enthusiastically go over the nature and purpose of Dumbledore's Army with Cassidy. She was supposed to be writing an essay for Snape, but she couldn't keep her mind on the task. Instead, she had her head propped up on one hand and she was glaring over in Harry's direction. He had been talking to Cassidy for over an hour now and it was really beginning to bother Ginny. _It's perfectly fine, _she told herself, even though she really thought otherwise. In fact, she was really thinking of taking out her wand and shooting the biggest bat bogey hex she had ever produced, at the new girl.

On the other hand she was proud of Harry for swallowing his pride and talking to her, despite how hard it must be for him. But for some reason she couldn't help but feel slightly jealous; which was _very _uncharacteristic of her.

"_Ginny!_" Hermione and Ron's simultaneous cry of her name brought her out of her reverie. "_Finally!_ We've been trying to get your attention for the last five minutes. What's up with you?"

"Nothing, I'm perfectly fine. I was just trying to think of what to write next on this essay." However, it wasn't so convincing since her parchment was obviously bare; realizing this, she casually put her arms over her paper.

"Oh, really. There's nothing wrong? Could've fooled us. You've broken _two _of your quills just 'thinking' about your essay. I didn't know _thinking _also involved shooting daggers with your eyes at Harry." Ron said, almost smugly, nodding his head in Harry's direction. _As if he knows anything!_

"Ron…I think you're right, except I have a feeling the daggers were being shot at Cassidy, rather than Harry." Hermione put in, smirking.

"You are both completely mad!" She said in a would-be-calm manner, except that her features gave it all away. She felt her face growing warmer by the second and knew that it undoubtedly matched the shade of her hair. She silently cursed her bright locks for betraying her, swept up her books and stormed up to the fifth year girls' dormitory, but not without shooting one last look of death at Harry and Cassidy.

"Are you alright, Ginny?" asked Rachael, one of her dorm mates. Ginny hadn't been too close with any of the girls in her year, but Rachael was somewhat of an exception. She wasn't as close with her as she was with Hermione, but she still shared a fair few things with her in the last few years.

Ginny considered her for a moment, not sure whether or not to tell Rachael that she had begun to have feelings for Harry again. She had never really _stopped_ caring about him in the first place, but she was able to move maturely past it for a while. "You're going to think it's stupid." Rachael's expression was enough for Ginny to press on. "Well, Harry has completely _refused _to talk to that new girl Cassidy…until tonight. He's been talking to her for well over an hour, like she's the only one in the room!"

Rachael smirked, "A little jealous, are we?"

"You're just as bad as my brother and Hermione!"

Her friend laughed, "Ginny, I really don't think you have much to worry about. Harry clearly has a thing for you; it's obvious by the way he looks at you. And, didn't you say just yesterday that you spent a lot of time with him over the summer?"

It was true, she did tell Rachael that, however, she conveniently left out the part where it was only she and Harry, and that he didn't really have a choice. _But just last night he told you that he wouldn't have chosen anyone different._ That memory brought a smile to her face. "Do you really think he fancies me then?" It wasn't that she had to ask for someone else's opinion; it was just reassuring to hear that she wasn't imagining it all.

Rachael rolled her eyes, "_Yes!_ Now, I don't know about you, but I'm completely exhausted, so quit worrying about such ridiculous things and go to sleep." She disappeared with a whoosh of her curtains.

When Ginny got into her own bed, she didn't have a hard time falling asleep, because she was no longer furious; instead, she thought about the previous night. She soon slipped off into her dreams. They were relatively pleasant for most of the night, and then, very unexpectedly, they took a huge turn.

Once again she was in the Department of Mysteries, seeing the same things she saw on the first night that she slept at Harry's house. She must have tapped into his dream again, but she was still no closer to understanding why than she had been in the beginning. This time, however, it was a little different. After the actual events played out, everyone else suddenly disappeared. Whispering could be heard in the proximity of the veil, and, as Ginny slowly walked closer, the voices got louder. She almost thought she recognized one of them, but it was still too hard to understand what any of them were saying. Stepping closer still, she heard the voice again, and instantly, she knew who it was. Her heart started beating faster than it had ever before; she wasn't scared, but excited, at the prospect of what this could mean.

"I can't understand what you're saying. But hurry, I don't think we have much more time!" She called to the bodiless voice.

"_Save me!"_

"Are you--" but she wasn't able to finish her thought because she was abruptly awoken from the dream. She sat up and immediately felt her head pounding, so she lay back down again, just as quickly. Closing her eyes, she tried to take in what she had just witnessed. _The Department of Mysteries. But then everyone disappeared, that was new. And then…yes, I heard Sirius. It was __**definitely **__him. But what did he say? Come on Ginny, __**remember**__! It was only a few minutes ago!_

She gasped and sat up again, "He's alive!" She swung her feet over the side of her bed and rushed out of the room, not sure of exactly where she was going to go. She thought that the only person who could reason this out with her was Hermione, so she stormed into the sixth year girls' dormitory, not caring who she woke up in the process, just as long as she could talk to Hermione. Rushing over to her friend's bed, she began to whisper, "Hermione, wake up! I need to tell you something really important!"

"Ginny? What time is it? Is there something wrong?" Hermione rubbed her eyes and looked up at her friend bewilderedly.

"Nothing's wrong, I just need to talk to you. Will you come down to the Common Room?"

"I guess, but what time—_Ginny_! Do you realize that it's four in the morning?!"

"No, I actually didn't look at the time, but neither would you if you had a revelation like this!" Ginny was beginning to get annoyed. She _needed _to tell someone and it most definitely couldn't wait until the morning.

They made their way down to the Common Room, and Ginny was thankful that there was no one but the two of them down there. She wasn't expecting there to be anyone, but one could never be entirely sure.

"Now, what is so important that you couldn't wait until morning?" It was becoming more and more apparent to Ginny that Hermione was not a morning person. She would make a note of that for the future, but right now it wasn't important at all.

Ginny recounted how she had Harry's nightmare again, which caught Hermione's interest, just as it had the previous night. She then went on to explain that the dream had changed, like the first time, except not to Dumbledore's office, but this time, everyone else disappeared, leaving Ginny alone in the giant room.

"And then, Sirius said, _'Save me,'_ and I was going to ask him if he was alive, but I woke up." Ginny couldn't sit still; she was pacing back and forth across the Common Room. She was anxious because she knew she had to do something about this, but she was afraid that she didn't have much time. All she knew was that she _had _to help him.

Much to Ginny's astonishment, Hermione didn't look too convinced. "I really don't know. I researched for a little while today, you know, about you seeing into his dreams, but I haven't found anything that seems to make any sense. What if it was just that, just _a dream_, Ginny?"

Ginny's jaw dropped, "You really don't believe me?! After everything we've learned in the past year, _that prophecies exist,_ you're going to tell me that it isn't possible that I was able to communicate with Sirius and that he's still alive?!"

Hermione seemed to turn this thought over in her mind. She had admitted at one point that it was amazing how prophecies could truly exist, as much as she believed that Divination was a scam. "Well, I think that if we are going to attempt this, we have to ask for help from more experienced wizards. What do you think about telling Professor Dumbledore?"

"Yes, I think that's the best thing to do. If anything, he'll be able to figure out why I can see into Harry's dream every once in a while. First thing tomorrow then, I'm going to see him." Ginny's voice and countenance displayed every bit of determination that she had in her entire being. Ever since the minute that she comprehended what exactly it was that she had seen, it became her personal duty to save Sirius from beyond the veil.

"Right. I'll come with you, if you want me to. But I think we should agree to keep this from Harry for as long as possible. We don't want him to get any false hope." Ginny looked as if she were about to correct Hermione, but then thought better of it. In her opinion, 'false hope' were not the right words, but she wouldn't press it because Hermione had no idea how Ginny had been feeling about all of this; truthfully, Ginny wasn't entirely sure how she knew that what she saw in the dream was real, but something inside of her gave her the confidence she needed to believe that it was.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The next morning, as Ginny waited for Hermione, she paced the Common Room, having thoughts on her dream from the night before, and if it could possibly be related to the mysterious prophecy that had been made earlier that year. After what seemed like ages, Hermione finally descended the girls' staircase, "Finally! Come on, we have to get out of here before anyone wonders where we've gotten to." She grabbed Hermione's arm and led her toward the portrait hole and they made their way to Dumbledore's office.

When they finally made it to the headmaster's office, Hermione voiced what Ginny had just realized, "We don't have the password. Now what?"

"You're in luck; I was just about to go see the Headmaster. I'll let him know that you two are down here, and I'm sure he'll send for you when we're done talking." Professor Callaway's voice came from behind them.

She proceeded to say the password, (chocolate frog) and headed up the winding staircase, out of sight.

"Hermione, I've been thinking. Do you suppose that me having Harry's dreams could relate to the second prophecy somehow?" She was biting her lip in frustration, and began pacing again.

"I think it might, though I can't really imagine how. But, we'll see what Professor Dumbledore has to say." She seemed anxious too, but not nearly as much as Ginny.

It was about ten minutes later when Professor Callaway descended, and gave them the okay to enter the Headmaster's office. Ginny knocked confidently on the door, and Dumbledore's voice came from beyond, "Enter."

"Good morning girls, what can I do for you this morning?" Dumbledore asked kindly.

Ginny bit her lip and glanced at Hermione. Her friend nodded her bushy head in encouragement, and Ginny immediately began to tell Dumbledore about her dream, both the first and second time.

When she finished, Dumbledore nodded silently, and when he finally spoke he said, "I admit that I am surprised by your conclusions drawn from these dreams, however, it proves that what I began to believe about you at the beginning of this summer is almost undeniably correct."

"And what is that, Professor?" Ginny was sitting on the edge of her seat in front of the headmaster's desk by now. Hermione was in an identical position in the chair to her right.

Dumbledore studied her for a moment and then continued, "Ms. Weasley, I believe that you possess quite a unique magical ability. It is not very common. However, it is genetic, skipping many, many generations. It is as unpredictable as the weather." He paused, surveying the two girls over the tips of his fingers, and then continued with a small smile, "Considering the circumstances, it is not very surprising at all."

"_What _unique ability do you think I possess?" Ginny was still just as lost as she was when she had the first dream.

Hermione, on the other hand, seemed like she was beginning to put the pieces together. She gasped, her eyes alight in comprehension, "Of course! I didn't read very much about them, but it all makes perfect sense! Ginny do you know how exciting this is?!"

"_No,_ but maybe if someone would share, then I _would_ understand!" She didn't hide the frustration in her voice. Everyone was dancing around the answer and she did not really want to wait much longer.

Dumbledore looked slightly amused, but continued nonetheless, "I have every reason to believe that you are an Empath, Ginny."

"An Empath? Aren't they able to feel what others feel?" She was sure they were mentioned somewhere, but she had no idea where.

"They have a heightened sense of emotions, and yes, they can sense what others are feeling as well. An early sign of Empathetic Magic is the ability to see into emotionally charged dreams. The fact that you are able to see Harry's dreams so clearly is still very intriguing. Dreams are usually extremely indistinct at first. However, I am led to believe that your bond with Harry makes it easier for you to see into his.

"It also interests me how you were able to commune with Sirius. I have no reason to believe that it was just a meaningless dream; that would be an awfully big coincidence. I don't want you to get your hopes up, and I must also caution you not to tell Mr. Potter about that particular bit of your dream." He studied them both, waiting for their nods of assent before he continued, "I am going to find as many resources on that veil in the Department of Mysteries as I possibly can. And then we will decide what we can do about the fate of Mr. Black.

"In the meantime, I would encourage you to read up on Empathetic Magic, so you can become more acquainted with your new power." Here, Professor Dumbledore rose from his chair, walked over to a shelf of books and retrieved a large, particularly old looking tome, handing it to Ginny. "If you have any questions, you may come to me, and I will try to answer them to the best of my ability."

"Thank you, Professor." Ginny said quietly; she suddenly felt like the small first year that had visited this office four years previously, after the incident in the Chamber of Secrets. Just like that, she had been informed that her life would forever be changed. Except this time, because of a positive piece of information; yet, she still didn't know what to make of it. Thinking of the Chamber suddenly reminded her of something she had wanted to ask the Headmaster before she left his office.

"Before, when you talked about 'the bond' that Harry and I share, did you mean because he saved my life in my first year?"

"Ah…I thought you might be curious about that. The answer is yes…and no. You see, in addition to that particular bond, there is another, greater one at work. Although, at this moment, I cannot disclose that information." It was obvious to both Ginny and Hermione that Professor Dumbledore was choosing his words wisely.

"It has to do with the prophecy, doesn't it?" Ginny couldn't help herself; she had to know.

Dumbledore smiled ruefully, "Ms. Weasley, I promise you that in due time you will find out everything. But for the time being, I beg you, let things run their course."

Although she didn't find out as much as she had hoped, Ginny knew their time was up, so, she nodded in agreement, thanked Professor Dumbledore again for the book, and the two girls made their way out of the office, their minds reeling with everything they had just learned.

~*~*~*~*

A/N: So there you are, the first ten chapters completely revamped. I really hope you enjoyed them and that you'll stay tuned for the upcoming ones. I can't promise any steady updating periods because, I'm very busy with school work. Of course, it's always very relaxing and enjoyable to escape into this world during my free time. I'd really like to thank both Tracie and Dawn for reading over each chapter as I went along. Tracie encouraged me whenever I got stuck, and I reallyyy appreciate her faith in me! 


	11. Some Mysteries

The Guardians

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these wonderful characters; they all belong to the magnificent J.K. Rowling. (Except for the original few that you'll be able to recognize yourselves!)

**Chapter 11: Some Mysteries**

Remus Lupin sat in Professor Dumbledore's office on Friday evening, waiting for the Headmaster to return. Dumbledore had requested Remus' presence for a meeting; however, he hadn't an inkling of what it was about. His best guess was that it had something to do with an assignment for the Order. His thoughts were interrupted by a clearing of the throat; he looked up but didn't see the Headmaster anywhere, but quickly realized that it was a _former _Headmaster trying to get his attention from his portrait on the wall.

"Hello Phineus." Remus said meeting Sirius' many great-grandfather's eyes.

"I haven't seen you around very often." The former Slytherin pointed out.

"I stay away from Grimmauld Place as much as possible these days." Remus had been avoiding any reason to set foot into the dreary headquarters, unless it was absolutely necessary. Staying at Privet Drive for the remainder of the summer had made this so much easier for him; he was almost grateful for this excuse, that is if it weren't for the circumstances required him there.

The problem was not _thinking _about Sirius exactly, but being where Sirius had been so miserable; where he had been forced to spend his last days, made it that much more unbearable for him. He felt guilty for enforcing the rules that the Order had set for him. Sirius was a grown man, who had gone through so much more than most of the Order members had ever experienced and yet they kept him imprisoned inside the house that he had despised for the majority of his life.

"Nymphadora Tonks has been by quite often. She sees to the housekeeping." Phineus seemed disinterested.

Remus flushed slightly; he had been avoiding Dora too. Over the past year they had become very close; _too close_. When they met for Order related things, they were cordial, but he explained to her that he needed his space and time to grieve. Dora was not pleased by his decision to isolate himself, but he was so afraid of losing yet another person he cared for, that he deemed it better to detach himself as much as possible.

"It is not healthy to push away the ones who love us during great times of need, Remus. You of all people should be familiar with this." Dumbledore had finally entered the room.

"I—" Professor Dumbledore held up his hand.

"I'm sure you're aware that we have a new professor in your old position this term." He began, changing the subject, "An old school friend of yours, if I'm not mistaken."

Remus looked at him puzzled. He had known many people at school, but there were very few that he actually considered _friends._ The majority of his close friends were dead now; the others had just drifted, or in Peter's case, betrayed.

"Alixandra Callaway." Dumbledore went on when he realized that Remus wasn't going to respond.

"_Alix_ is _here?_" Memories flashed through his mind; not soon after Sirius was put in Azkaban, she had just about turned her back on the wizarding world; he couldn't imagine _why _she would decide to come back _now_.

"Yes, which leads me to why I asked you to come here." Dumbledore sat behind his desk, and folded his hands in front of him. "I would like you to talk to Alixandra about the Order of the Phoenix. I know she was a member during the first war, so I can't see why she would have any objections this time around."

"How much does she know already?" The _real _question was had Dumbledore told her anything about Sirius.

"I haven't been given the chance to explain much of anything to her. She doesn't know anything about Sirius—innocence, or death." As always Dumbledore had read his thoughts before he had a chance to voice them aloud.

"Am _I _expected to let her in on this secret?" He tried to keep the bitterness out of his voice as much as possible, but he hardly thought it was fair that he had to break this news to her. Not only would he be suffering, but he would watch Alix suffer the pain that she never thought she would feel again.

"You may tell Ms. Callaway anything that you deem to be…appropriate." The older man seemed to be struggling for the right words.

"_Appropriate?_ You do remember, don't you, that she _loved _him at one point? And now I'm going to tell her that he's been innocent all along, _and _that he died, all at the same time? I don't think that's entirely fair." The anger that Remus was feeling, was not unexpected, yet he instantly felt guilty for directing it towards Dumbledore of all people. He took a deep breath, calming himself.

"I am very aware of that delicate situation. Which is why I urge you to use great caution with what you decide to share with her." Dumbledore paused and seemed that he was struggling to find his next words, "There is something else though, Remus." His expression changed instantly to a very grave one.

"What's going on?" The remainder of his anger dissipated as he became deeply concerned with what he could possibly be hiding.

Dumbledore studied Remus for a minute and then carefully began, "I have been led to believe that Sirius' fate may not be what we have previously thought."

Remus stared at Professor Dumbledore's penetratingly blue eyes, speechless. He wasn't allowing himself to fall for it; he didn't need any more false hope than he had already. Dumbledore continued much more quietly this time, but hope was evident in his voice, "He's alive."

"That's impossible." Emotions quickly overwhelmed him; he couldn't allow himself to believe it. Not after everything he'd been through; losing Lily and James; and thinking he'd lost Peter and being convinced that Sirius had betrayed them all—then uncovering the truth to find that Sirius had wasted twelve years of his life while Peter was _still _running free.

"I wouldn't have believed it myself until Ginny Weasley approached me about a very vivid dream that she had."

"Ginny? Please tell me that she hasn't mentioned any of this nonsense to Harry. He doesn't need—he doesn't _deserve_ to be given such a false hope."

"No, I advised Miss Weasley that it was not wise to tell Harry anything until we could acquire solid evidence. He already has too much on his plate right now."

"And you thought it was okay to tell _me?"_ Remus was still fighting back the tears that were threatening to overcome.

Dumbledore sighed, "I am very sorry to upset you, Remus. I just thought, based on previous events, that you would have more faith than this."

Remus had been staring down at his hands, and presently looked up to meet Dumbledore's gaze, clearly puzzled.

"Don't you remember those pleading letters that Sirius had sent you when he was first arrested? _Begging _you to believe him? And you had wanted to; I remember that; you were so determined to believe him. You spent so much time trying to track down Peter—"

"But I _gave up._ I _failed _him, Professor." His voice was barely audible.

"You and I, as well as Sirius, know that none of that was your fault. You had not been able to find any substantial evidence to back any of it up. Peter had fooled us all." By now, Remus had stopped fighting back the tears, and they were streaming down his face freely, as he listened to Dumbledore's account of the past.

"What about your frequent attempts to acquire a time turner; when you so strongly believed that you had a flawless strategy to change the past?" Dumbledore continued.

"You've said it yourself, _many times_…that we cannot bring the dead back to life." He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

"That is very true, but we can however, return the living to their normal lives, can we not?"

"I don't—I _can't _let myself believe this." He stood to leave. "I'll speak to Alix about the Order, but I'm not telling her anything about Sirius."

"Very well. I'm deeply sorry, Remus." Dumbledore said, as Remus made his way to the spiral staircase.

He turned to face the Headmaster once more, "I know you meant well, but I'm not going to let myself believe it..." Dumbledore nodded silently, and Remus exited the office.

Descending the staircase slowly, Remus decided that it would be best to put the most recent bit of information in the back of his mind, as best he could for the time being, since he had to speak to Alix shortly. He made his way up to the third floor to her office where he was surprised to find both Alix and Harry speaking to a handful of students who were crowded around the front of the room.

He didn't have to knock, because Harry spotted him almost immediately, and grinned and began walking towards the door. Remus too, couldn't help but return the smile. "Hello, Harry. What's going on here?"

"Remember last year, we started Dumbledore's Army?" Remus nodded for him to continue, "Well, Professor Callaway thought it would be a good idea if we continued it. We're holding the first meeting."

It was nice to see Harry in a somewhat good mood, for a change. It was the happiest Remus had seen him since Sirius had—Dumbledore's words came back to him, and he was unable to finish the thought. "How is Professor Callaway's teaching, as good as mine?"

Harry laughed, "No one is as good as you, Remus."

At the mention of her name, Alix looked towards the doorway, her eyes widening, accompanied by a huge smile. She rushed towards him and engulfed him in a hug. "REMUS! I can't believe it's you! It's been so long!"

For some strange reason, tears welled up in his eyes for the second time that night, but he quickly blinked them away. "It's great to see you too, Alix. How have you been?"

"Better since I've been back here; and yourself?"

_Well that's a loaded question, _he thought. "I—er, well…I'm decent." He glanced at Harry, whose smile faded, clearly understanding what he meant.

Alix looked at him, undoubtedly trying to decipher the meaning behind his words, but she gave up without questioning him about it further. "So, what brings you to Hogwarts on this fine evening?" She quickly changed the subject.

Fine evening was a bit of an over statement; it was pouring rain outside. "I'm actually here to speak to you about something, but I suppose it could wait." He glanced at the room full of students.

"Well, why don't you join us for the remainder of the meeting? We won't be much longer." She began making her way back to the front of the room, and Remus followed, but at a slower pace so he could quickly fill Harry in.

"Order business," He whispered, "Dumbledore wants to recruit her." Harry nodded in assent and took his place next to Alix. Remus took a seat behind Hermione, and many of the students who had recognized him cheerfully said hello. He noticed a girl with long black hair, sitting next to Neville Longbottom, glancing back at him curiously.

Remus was almost startled by how familiar her face was; there was no mistaking her. Cassidy Lestrange; the girl Dumbledore was so keen on bringing back into the Wizarding World this summer. When she noticed that he'd caught her eye, she quickly turned to face the front of the room once more.

It struck him as very odd that she had been sitting next to Neville of all people; of course _she _wouldn't understand the abnormality in this, but Neville, on the other hand, would know all too well. Remus had not approved of Dumbledore's eagerness to drag Cassidy into their world at this time for various reasons; some, he had to admit, were quite selfish on his part, but he was only looking out for Harry's well-being. The other reasons were regarding the girl's own well-being; Dumbledore's intentions were good—to train the girl and to keep her protected from being dragged into the wrong side of this war. However, Remus could never help but think there was something more to this scheme.

"Harry," Alix said abruptly bringing Remus out of his reverie, "Finish telling them about your Patronus."

Harry grinned, and glanced at Remus. "Actually, this is the perfect time to be talking about my Patronus. The man who taught me is sitting right here." He gestured to Remus, and there was a brief round of applause, started by Ron.

Harry began talking about his third year, and how Remus had taught him to defend himself against Dementors, using a boggart. He explained the form his Patronus eventually took, and _why _it took this form. Remus listened proudly; Harry was quite good at teaching and it was obvious that he really enjoyed sharing his abilities with those who were as insecure as he once was. He listened attentively, even though he was quite familiar with this story already.

His attention was only drawn away when Hermione turned to him and whispered, "How are you doing?"

"I've been better to tell you the truth." Ginny had turned to him as well, to listen.

"Ginny, there's something I need to speak to you about, but it's going to have to wait." Remus whispered quickly.

She bit her lip, apparently nervously, "How much did Dumbledore tell you?"

"Not very much, but you better have a very good explanation." He replied wearily.

To his surprise Ginny's eyes welled up with tears, "I'm so sorry, Remus." She stood up and rushed from the room.

He looked at her bewildered; he had purposely not meant to say it harshly, and he had believed that he had accomplished this, but apparently something had gone wrong. He glanced back at Hermione who had looked torn between explaining more to him, or running after Ginny.

She sighed, and glanced quickly at Harry who had abruptly stopped talking; he had noticed Ginny's hurried exit from the room. Hermione hastily whispered something in Ron's ear, and then said to Remus, "I'd better go." And she rushed after Ginny.

Harry made to do the same, but Ron stopped him, "Let Hermione handle it, mate. Girl stuff."

Harry still looked unsettled, so Alix had decided to call it a night, "Next time, we'll actually try to cast the Patronus charm. Enjoy your weekend!"

The students filed out of the classroom and Harry and Ron hung back. Harry looked genuinely concerned about Ginny, "What happened?"

Before Remus could think of a reply, Ron jumped in, "Hermione said something that must have upset her."

Harry didn't seem very convinced, but the two of them said their goodbyes and made their way back to the common room. "You should come to the next meeting, Remus." Harry said a bit more cheerfully before he left the classroom. Remus promised that he'd try, and waved again to the two boys.

"He's amazing, Remus. After everything he's been through! He's such a selfless and modest person." Alix said, after Harry was out of sight.

He smiled, fondly, "I know, Lily and James," _And Sirius, _he thought, "would be so proud of him."

"So, tell me, what is it that you have to speak to me about?"

Remus took a deep breath, "Do you remember during the last war, The Order of the Phoenix?"

"How could I forget." Remus could not help but detect the sadness in her voice. He knew that she had isolated herself since the first war, much like he'd been doing since he'd lost Sirius.

"Well, it's been active again, since Voldemort's been back and I was asked to recruit you." She visibly flinched at his casual use of the name.

"Of course I'll join, but I can't make any promises that I'll be able to do anything that drastic, since I'll be teaching and…well, I do have a five year old daughter."

Remus was very much surprised by this bit of information, "You do? Where is she?"

"My parents have been taking care of her until I'm settled here. My sister is bringing her over sometime tomorrow evening."

"So you're married then?"

She colored slightly, "Er…no. Her father is a muggle that I was dating for a while, but he found out that I was a witch. Let's just say he didn't take it so well."

"And your daughter, did he—"

"Oh, no. I told him before I found out that I was pregnant with Aurora. It was probably for the best, anyway. I never did too well in relationships after…" She trailed off, but the look in her eyes showed bitter resentment, no doubt towards Sirius.

Remus was bursting to tell her the truth; all of it, and maybe even what Dumbledore had just told him too. He wanted to relieve her of the resentment that she still held towards Sirius for the past fifteen years. But he refrained from even telling her the most harmless of this information because he knew she wouldn't believe any of it.

"Aurora," He said, "That's a really beautiful name."

The bitterness disappeared from her face, when she smiled. "You should come back for the next meeting; then you can see Harry teach a bit more, and you can meet Aurora."

"I'd like that." He returned her smile, "I should be going." He wasn't sure how much longer he would be able to keep up this façade of being perfectly fine. "I'm glad you've decided to come back, Alix."

"It was great to see you." She returned.

Remus made his way back down to the entrance hall. He was greeted by a very distressed looking Ginny Weasley, who was sitting on the stone steps. "Finally!"

Remus couldn't help but chuckle, "Are you all right?"

"The question is _are you?_" Ginny stood up and brushed her robes off.

Perplexed, Remus responded, "What do you mean?"

She sighed, "I owe you an explanation…or two." She bit her lip and began pacing. "Dumbledore just informed me at the beginning of this week that I'm an Empath."

"That's…incredible, Ginny. They're _very _rare." His previous annoyance at her, dissipated even more as he became intrigued by this new discovery.

"Yes, I know. But it's very difficult to deal with. At first I only saw into Harry's dreams, and now I'm beginning to actually _feel _what others are feeling. It's usually very fuzzy, but with you, it came to me so strongly, that I didn't know how else to react, but to _feel _your feelings myself. Does that make any sense?" She only briefly halted her pacing to look at him, as she posed this question.

"I—sure. But Dumbledore said, that Sirius…he—" He couldn't finish, it was too difficult to articulate.

She sighed again, and sat down at the edge of the highest step. "I had the usual dream that Harry has, but this time it was different. Sirius was speaking to me, from beyond the veil and he was begging me to save him. And I woke up with this strong feeling that he was still alive. I still can't even explain it, but Dumbledore was convinced, as was Hermione." She searched his expression then, and he could see that she was wondering if he was also convinced.

"Doubt. I feel your doubt…" She continued. "I can't say I blame you though."

"It's not _you _that I doubt, Ginny. It's the entire situation. I've always hoped there was some sort of loophole whenever I've lost someone I love. I don't want to give myself hope for something that can't be changed." He struggled to explain this to her. It was difficult as it was, but to explain to someone who had never experienced such a loss made it that much more complicated.

"Hermione and I have been researching the veil. Dumbledore's going to find whatever he can on it. I'll admit, we haven't been very successful yet, but I'm not giving up." It was very clear by her steely expression that she meant it.

Remus rubbed his temples and Ginny groaned, apologizing profusely. "If the way I felt earlier had such an intense effect on you, how come Harry doesn't?"

She groaned again and put her head in her hands, "He does. _Worse_ than you. He was in an unusually good mood earlier, so it made it much more bearable to be in the same room as him, but I've gotten these awful headaches. Sometimes I become lightheaded…it varies." She paused briefly, "I've actually been avoiding him for the past two days. I think he's noticed too…"

If Remus had thought she was distressed before, she was ten times worse off now. He felt extremely guilty for being part of the reason she was beating herself up. From what he could tell, she'd only known about her new powers for a week and already they were having an undesirable effect on her.

"Isn't there a way to…er turn it off, so to speak?"

She laughed half heartedly, "I wish. There are ways of controlling it, but I haven't mastered that yet. The book Dumbledore gave me is very informative, but it's one thing to read it and a whole other thing entirely to actually put it into practice."

"I'm assuming you haven't told Harry about any of this yet?" He took a seat next to her on the staircase.

"No. I don't intend to tell him about Sirius until…" She trailed off, and then began again "Because I wouldn't want to upset Harry in any way."

Remus nodded, "And your empathy?"

"I haven't told him about that either. I'm worried about what it'll do to our…friendship. I can read his feelings, and I really don't think he's going to like that…"

"You should tell him, Ginny. He seemed very worried about you back there. I don't think he'd appreciate that you've been avoiding him."

"I'm going to tell him, but I can feel what he's feeling. It's such an invasion on his privacy…" She glanced at him sheepishly, her cheeks were tinged red.

Remus raised an eyebrow, "I won't ask." He stood up, "Come on, you should get back to Gryffindor Tower, it's getting late."

"Thank you, Remus. And I'm really sorry that I've caused you pain. I promise I'm going to do everything I can to help him."

"I sincerely hope you find a way, but I'm not going to let myself believe any of this until he's standing right in front of me." He fought back the lump that was forming in his throat.

"I'll prove you wrong." Ginny said confidently, looking back as she retreated down the corridor.

"You better." He said, more to himself and made his way down the marble staircase.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When Ginny climbed through the portrait hole, she didn't have to look around the room to know that Harry was waiting for her. The minute she entered the common room, she felt his presence. Her stomach began to squirm; she couldn't tell if it was a result of his feelings radiating towards her, or her own guilt and nervousness.

"Harry, I owe you an explanation." She cringed inwardly; as she realized that she seemed to owe everyone explanations lately.

He looked at her expectantly and Ginny stared into his emerald eyes and was overpowered with his emotions. Instinctively, she winced at the onslaught of feelings that were almost quite literally being thrown at her.

"Are you—" Harry began, reaching out a hand towards her. She stepped back and immediately regretted it because of the hurt look that crossed his face, along with the huge pain now shooting through her head.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean—" Tears were welling in her eyes; both from his hurt as well as her own.

"I understand. I'll leave you alone." He turned to go up the boys' dormitory staircase.

"You _don't _understand! Not at all!" Feeling very dizzy, she was now leaning on an armchair for support.

She couldn't imagine what it was like to hold all of that emotion on the inside; blocked behind walls that weren't allowed to let any of it to seep through. None of it was hers and she couldn't even hold it back.

She sunk into the armchair and Harry stepped closer again, "You don't look good, Ginny. Maybe you should go to the hospital wing."

She held up a hand to stop him from coming closer, "I'm fine, I promise. You probably shouldn't come any closer though."

Was that a flash of anger she felt? Or maybe she was imagining it. "Please just tell me what's going on." He took a seat on the staircase, giving into her pleas.

She drew a slow but still very unsteady breath, "I'm an Empath, Harry."

His brow furrowed, confusion written all over his face. "Er…what?"

She laughed shakily, "It's a really rare form of magic…" And she told him everything she knew about her new power; including the worst—the effect he had on her.

When she concluded, he looked miserable, but it was obvious that he was trying to hide it. "Don't bother…your emotions are the clearest for me."

"Go figure." He muttered.

"There's more to that…I'm sure of it, but Dumbledore won't tell me, and I have yet to figure it out entirely myself." She had a hunch, but it was almost embarrassing to admit, so she was not going to tell him, especially not now.

"I'm sorry for er…hurting you." He glanced at her cautiously, clearly afraid of setting something off again.

Guilt flooded her and she knew that it wasn't just his; she felt awful for hurting him too. It wasn't physical pain, but to her, it was all the same. "You have no reason to apologize."

"Are you still…in pain?" He looked like he was struggling to stay put, but she was grateful that he didn't move; she wasn't sure how much more she could take tonight.

"Yes, but I think that the more I'm around you, the easier it'll get." She said contemplatively. The pain had not dissipated as much as she was letting on, but she didn't want to upset him further.

"But I have to keep my distance." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

She sighed, "Yes…for now."

"Goodnight, Ginny." He said quietly and turned to walk up to his dormitory.

Tears filled her eyes again and she curled up in the chair she had been sitting in and quickly fell into an unsteady sleep.

~*~

A/N: So that's Chapter 11! I hope you enjoyed it :) I was going to add more, but Tracie convinced me that it would be better if the next part was in Chapter 12. I'm hoping to have that up roughly by this time next week. I won't make any promises though. Thanks to all those who reviewd last time and please keep reviewing!! Thanks!!!!!


	12. Capture

The Guardians

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these wonderful characters; they all belong to the magnificent J.K. Rowling. (Except for the original few that you'll be able to recognize yourselves!)

**Chapter 12: Capture**

The next week dragged on as Harry struggled to give Ginny the space that she requested. Although he understood the reasons behind it, he still couldn't help but feel put out by the situation. Despite all of this, he did everything he could to keep himself distracted. After class that following Friday, he held Quidditch trials and promised to have another D.A. meeting later that evening. Remus had owled earlier in the week, saying that he'd meet them in the Defense classroom at Eight o'clock; he'd also promised to bring a boggart that Tonks had found lurking in Grimmauld Place, so Harry could properly show his classmates, or in this case, students how to fight off Dementors.

Harry and Ron made their way out to the Quidditch pitch together, and were soon met by a multitude of younger students ready to try out for the open positions. Ron only had two other competitors for the position of Keeper, only one of which was half-way decent, in Harry's eyes; he kept him for reserves, and let the other boy down as easily as possible.

The Chasers were much harder to narrow down. There were three girls that were quite good, but Harry knew who he had wanted to make a Chaser, however Ginny was nowhere in sight. He ended up choosing two fourth year girls Tracie Palazzolo and Laura Shing, and put made the other, a third year, a reserve. There were only three boys trying out for Beaters, two of which were significantly better than the third. Although the other boy was fairly decent, Harry did not have a hard time choosing the two better qualified boys. About four hours later, as they headed to the changing room to clean up, they had all agreed on a full team practice the following Friday at the same time.

"Where do you reckon Ginny was?"Harry asked Ron as they headed back to the castle a few minutes later.

"Didn't she demand space from you, or something?"Much to Harry's frustration, Hermione had told Ron about Ginny's empathy before Harry had found out.

"Yes, but I thought she had wanted to try out for the team."

"You'd have to ask her about that, mate. She didn't mention it to me at all."Ron glanced at Harry from the corner of his eye.

He still noticed that Ron and Hermione tended to walk on eggshells around him when a touchy subject was brought up, however not nearly as much as when they first returned to school. He sighed, pulling the Marauder's Map from his pocket, muttering _"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good._" He scanned the map and it wasn't long before he found her. The tiny dot labeled _Ginny Weasley _was in a corner of the Library, alone.

"Who are you looking for?" Ron asked peering over at the map. He rolled his eyes and grinned, "I think Hermione's brainwashed her or something, she's been in the library every day this week."

"I'm going to go have a chat with her." Harry said flatly. He was getting tired of having to keep his distance and was eager to discuss some other alternative with her.

"Do you really think that's such a great idea?" Ron looked genuinely worried. _ Of course he was, _Harry thought. Ginny was his sister after all, of course he didn't want Harry's presence to cause her any pain.

"Probably not." He paused, "I'll meet you at dinner in a few minutes." Harry strode off to the direction of the library while Ron continued into the Great Hall.

He scanned the vast room when he entered the library and it wasn't too long before he spotted Ginny's shocking red hair. She was towards the back of the room, absorbed in her book. As he got closer, her curious expression quickly changed to a slightly pained one. She looked up, obviously forewarned by his presence.

"You're angry." Her brow was furrowed, with concern for him.

"You didn't come to Quidditch trials."

Ginny bit her lip, "I didn't think it would…er…help our situation."

"So that's it then, we aren't going to speak to each other at all now?" Harry's voice was slowly rising, and Madam Pince cleared her throat loudly, glaring at the pair of them.

"You know that's not what I want, Harry." Ginny whispered exasperatedly.

"Well, it just doesn't seem like you're trying very hard to—" Harry began, but quickly regretted it when he saw the dangerous look on Ginny's face.

"_I'm not_ _trying_? You have _no idea_ how difficult this is for me. Not to mention everything _else_ I've been working on!" She quickly began gathering her books and stacks of parchments from the table and stalked away.

Harry reached out and grabbed her arm to stop her, "I'm sorry. I'm frustrated and I just want to help…"

"Well you're _not _helping…at all." She said scathingly and shrugged his hand off of her arm and exited the library.

Harry sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair and began his way back to the Great Hall for dinner.

When he entered, Ron and Hermione were leaning towards each other whispering and only stopped when he approached the Gryffindor House table. Hermione smiled at him and he didn't even attempt one in return.

"Hermione, you've read about Ginny's new…er, ability, haven't you?"

Hermione's brow furrowed in concern, "Yes, but Harry, she's told you that you have to—"

"Keep my distance for a while, I know. I was just wondering if maybe you've read of a way for _me _to make it easier on her."

Hermione seemed to be turning this over in her mind, "Hmmm…well, I don't see why you couldn't try to practice what the book says that _she _has to do."

"And what's that?" Harry asked feeling slightly relieved.

"Well," She began with a wry smile, "It's kind of like Occlumency and requires a lot of concentration."

"I'm_ always_ going to have to concentrate to not…hurt her?" Harry sounded defeated.

"Not _forever_. Just until both of you get used to blocking your emotions." She smiled reassuringly. "I'll show you the book when we're finished with dinner."

"I'm not hungry, can we go now?" He replied anxiously.

Ron sniggered, "Hermione, you should have waited to tell him."

"It's fine, I was done anyway." She smiled and stood.

"Well _I _wasn't." Ron muttered but, he too stood up to leave, as well.

The trio made their way up to the Common Room and spent a few hours reading over the theory behind blocking out emotions. It was hard to tell if Harry had made any bit of progress considering Ginny wasn't around to test it.

"Why don't we ask her, just so we know we aren't wasting our time?" Ron asked for the third time (Hermione had already posed this question several times as well).

"No." Harry said shortly once again.

"Harry, it would be much easier if she were here, we all know that." Hermione said, clearly losing her patience.

"It wouldn't be easier for _her._" He said broodingly.

Ron shook his head and looked as if he was about to say something in protest, but Hermione cut him off, "Thisis _precisely_ the reason you couldn't keep up with your Occlumency! You won't let go of all of that hostility and anger, making it harder for you to block out your emotions. The same thing happened last year—you couldn't clear your mind and V-V-Voldemort had open access to it!" She was flustered when she finished.

"I could have said that a bit nicer, Hermione." Ron said, looking at her incredulously.

"No, Ron, she's right. I have no idea how to control myself." He replied bitterly.

"That's not what I meant!" Hermione defended.

"Then what _did _you mean?"

"I—" Her explanation was cut off by Ginny's arrival through the portrait hole. She visibly tensed as she sensed the hostility in the air.

"D.A. is starting in half an hour; I should go help Professor Callaway set up." Harry said, in a forced calm voice as he retreated to the portrait hole, carefully avoiding eye contact with Ginny.

"I'll come with you." Ron suggested, following Harry out of the Common Room.

~*~

"Are you sure you don't want to come, Ginny?" Hermione asked for the second time.

The younger girl shook her head, "I'm going to go back to the library. The book I'm trying to translate is really interesting. Besides, I don't think Harry is very pleased with me at the moment."

Hermione looked confused, but still quite impressed about the former statement, "You're translating a book?"

"It's a runic text about mysterious objects of the magical world." Ginny was trying to spend much of her free time researching the possibility of rescuing Sirius. She hadn't been close to finding anything useful yet, but the book in question seemed rather promising.

Hermione bit her lip a bit guiltily, "I'm sorry I haven't been helping you. I'll come with you if want."

"No, we'll both go tomorrow. I don't think Harry would appreciate you not showing up to the meeting as well."

"He's angry with me too; so I don't think he'd mind too much."

On the one hand it'd be nice to have Hermione's knowledge and input, but she knew better than to further upset Harry. She shook her head again, "Remus is going to be there too, and you and I both know that he doesn't much approve of this. I think it's better if you go to the meeting."

Hermione looked ever so slightly disappointed but in the end obliged, and headed off towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, leaving Ginny free to go to the library until Madam Pince forced her to leave.

As was becoming somewhat of a custom for her these days, she went to her favorite table at the back of the room when she arrived at the library. She took out the book she had been explaining to Hermione, as well as a basic Ancient Runes text book that she used as a means to translate, and her ever-increasing stack of notes immediately setting to work.

She was so absorbed in her research that she had not noticed how much time had passed, nor anyone else entering or leaving the library.

"Shouldn't you be at your boyfriend's stupid Defense meeting?" Drawled an unpleasantly familiar voice from behind her.

She was visibly startled by his unexpected presence, and gasped. He laughed mockingly at her and made his way to the other side of the table, so that he was now facing her. Ginny glared in response, "I'm busy with something. Don't you have anything better to do, Draco?"

Much to her surprise he sat down, but kept his typical scowl in place. "Of course I do. You don't think you're important enough to be the _reason _I'm in the library, do you? I merely saw you sitting here, when I knew Potter was running one of those absurd meetings, and wondered why on earth you weren't tagging along."

Ginny concentrated on keeping her tone unperturbed by his intentional baiting, "I've told you already, I'm quite busy." She returned her gaze to her notes.

"You aren't having a lover's quarrel are you, Weasley?" Sarcastic amusement was dripping from his words.

She glared at him again, "My life, nor Harry's is any of your business, Malfoy." She went back to ignoring him, keeping her eyes focused on the parchment in front of her, but was hit with a startling realization. The entire time he was present at the table, she had not felt one ounce of emotion from him; not the predictable derision that would come from Draco Malfoy; not _anything_.

Ginny's eyes snapped back to his, staring in fascination. Every person she had come across, there were emotions engulfing them; some clearer than others, but no one had ever had a complete _lack _or _absence _of it until now. She hated to admit it to herself, but being next to Draco Malfoy was unusually relieving. There was no burden of having to feel everyone else's emotions.

He displayed a brief flicker of intrigue at the way she stared into his eyes and inclined closer to her, but quickly leaned back as far as he could, glowering. Ginny shook herself from her trance like state, feeling her cheeks grow warm at the awkward moment.

"Disgusting." Spat Malfoy, breaking the brief silence; however, to her surprise, he stayed seated.

"Oh _please_. It's nothing to do with what _you're _thinking." Ginny scoffed, laughing slightly at the conclusions she assumed that he was already jumping to. "Please, do _not _flatter yourself."

"Flatter _myself?_ Oh yes, I'd _love _to snog a disgusting little blood-traitor like you."

Ginny rolled her eyes and looked at him distastefully, "Why don't you leave me alone now, and do what you came here to do."

He stood from the table without another word, walking to a shelf of books, and disappearing within. Ginny tried to settle back into her research but, couldn't help but think about what had just occurred. She didn't remember a part in the book Dumbledore had given her about someone with a complete lack of emotions, or the inability of her to read any individual's emotions; so it had to be something else. Regardless, it was fascinating.

His reaction to the situation was almost as intriguing; he had a curious look in his eyes when she was enraptured by her initial fascination. Had he really thought that she had been physically attracted to him? And if so, was he _pleased _with that thought? Shuddering, she turned around, scanning the room for him briefly, but was relieved when his white-blonde head was nowhere in sight.

Sighing heavily, she gathered her belongings and packed them into her rucksack and made her way to the oak doors. Before she exited she spotted Draco once more; he was sitting against a bookshelf a book propped up against his knees, but instead of reading it, he had been looking in her direction, as if he was waiting for her to pass. When their gazes met, he didn't break eye contact, but smirked instead. Ginny shivered involuntarily, breaking away from his gaze and hurried out of the library.

~*~

The D.A. meeting was relatively successful, except for one minor setback; it took Harry nearly twenty minutes to produce a corporeal Patronus, which was rarely ever a problem for him since his third year. To Harry's relief Remus quickly explained to the group of students that it was a very difficult thing to produce, and often took many tries. Those who had already been members of the D.A. nodded, but still looked worriedly over at Harry's struggling attempt. Luckily they seemed to have forgotten all about it by the end of the meeting, and were all gloating over their varying levels of success at casting the Patronus charm.

"How long did it take you to finally get your Patronus to take form?" Cassidy inquired as she walked back to the Common Room with Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"Quite a few months. It's very difficult, so you shouldn't expect anything from it right away." Harry explained.

"I wonder what form mine will take." She mused.

"Well, do you feel protected by anything in particular?" Hermione asked.

"I never had a pet before I got my Hogwarts letter. My parents bought my kitten for me when we went to Diagon Alley to buy my books."

"Well, it doesn't necessarily have to be an animal." Hermione added matter-of-factly.

"Really?" Voiced, Harry, Ron and Cassidy in unison.

Hermione laughed, "Honestly, Harry, aren't you supposed to be the expert in Defense?"

Harry rolled his eyes, "_No_. You shouldn't mislead poor Cassidy. Don't listen to her," He looked at Cassidy grinning, "Hermione always knows _something_ that we aren't aware of."

"Except anything to do with Quidditch." Ron added quickly.

Harry shook his head exaggeratedly, "Don't underestimate her Ron, she just might show us up in that area one day too."

Cassidy laughed, but Harry couldn't help but notice that she still looked slightly out of place. He understood how it felt to not entirely belong somewhere; he was best friends with Ron and Hermione for years, and she must have felt like she was intruding. He could tell that she was not yet comfortable being around them all the time, and silently noted to himself to talk to her sometime in the next few days.

The four of them climbed through the portrait hole into the nearly empty common room. Harry's light spirit was short lived as he glanced around the room, noticing that Ginny wasn't present.

"She was going to the library before Harry, but I'm sure she'll be back soon. You should just wait for her here." Hermione suggested, but looked as if she were afraid of his response.

"Look, Hermione, I'm sorry about before—"

She waved her hands for him to stop, "Harry, I've been friends with you for five years now; I know you didn't mean it."

He smiled, relieved. "You think she'll be back soon?"

Ron glanced at his watch, "It's nearly ten o'clock."

Hermione nodded, "Yes, she's been there quite a long time today, so I'm sure she'll be back soon."

Ron snorted, "What have you turned my sister into?" Hermione smacked his arm playfully.

Cassidy excused herself and headed off to her dormitory, and Hermione soon followed after, leaving the two boys to sit around the embers that were left in the Common Room fire.

"You care about her, don't you?" Ron asked after the girls were gone.

"What?" Harry said, caught off guard.

"Ginny. You…like her." It seemed that this was difficult for Ron to say; and it made sense to Harry. Ginny was Ron's little sister, and Harry his best friend; it complicated things for all of them.

"Yes. I know you probably aren't too ecstatic about the idea of us—"

"Spare me the details, Harry. It's fine, just…don't hurt her, okay? She's my baby sister…"

"I would never hurt her _intentionally, _you know that, don't you?"

"Of course…" Ron said awkwardly, not meeting Harry's gaze. If Harry wasn't mistaken it looked like he wanted to say something else, but he couldn't be certain.

There was a small silence, but Ron eventually added with a small smile, "Well, just so you know…er…if I had to pick anyone for my only sister to date, I suppose you'd be a good choice."

"Thanks, mate." Harry said, in disbelief. It wasn't exactly that Harry was _surprised _that Ron approved, but the mere fact that he was expressing it to him was unexpected.

"Well, er—goodnight." Ron said, and disappeared up the boys' dormitory staircase.

Harry laughed quietly when Ron was out of sight. He'd never had a more awkward conversation with his best friend before. He supposed it was bound to happen sooner or later though, considering the continued closeness between himself and Ginny.

He began dozing off in his armchair by the fire, but was abruptly awoken when the portrait hole creaked open. Ginny was climbing through with her bulging rucksack over her shoulder. Their eyes met, and she offered him a small smile; he returned it.

"Gin, I'm really sorry about earlier."

"Harry you don't have to apologize, for anything. I haven't been fair." She looked exhausted, and he felt even guiltier for keeping her awake, but he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep soundly without resolving this first.

"And I haven't made it easier. Quidditch isn't _that _important." He said shaking his head.

She laughed slightly, "Oh, you say that _now_."

"Not as important as you." He corrected himself.

Tears welled in her eyes, "That's sweet."

"Am I hurting you?" Harry said, very much concerned, backing away from her slightly.

"No, no! This is _me_." She said gesturing to her teary eyes, with a wave of her hand, "Not you, I promise."

He looked at her skeptically, but decided to believe her, thinking that she would tell him if he was doing anything wrong. "Hermione told me that if I keep focusing on blocking my emotions from you, it should help."

"Did she?" Ginny asked curiously, taking a seat on a sofa.

"Well she said that it's what the book told _you _to do. Concentrate on blocking out a specific person's emotions, that is."

"I wonder if it works…" She said almost absently, playing with a piece of her fiery red hair. "But…It might not matter. I've been thinking." She met his gaze, "I think that if I'm around you more, the pain may lessen over time. It's just a theory though."

"Are you sure? I wouldn't want you hurting yourself for my sake."

She shook her head furiously, "I came up with the theory based on something I read in the book Hermione told you about. It makes a lot more sense to me, the more I think about it."

"Look, I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but do you mind elaborating?" Harry asked, sitting down across from her.

To his relief, she laughed, "Sorry." But the smile died away from her face as she thought of what to say next, "I would tell you, Harry, you have to believe that. It would just complicate things much more than either of us need right now."

Her brown eyes stared into his green ones pleadingly, keeping him from protesting further. She seemed desperate for him to trust her judgment; to leave things as they were. "Please just let things run their course." She added, obviously sensing his gloom.

Her stomach growled, interrupting the conversation from going anywhere further. Ginny muttered, more to herself, "I've forgotten to eat again."

"_Forgotten?"_Harry asked astonished.

"Well, I've been relatively busy lately…" She trailed off, avoiding his eyes.

"Stay here; I'll go get the Invisibility Cloak. We can go down to the kitchens." He didn't wait for her reply and went up the staircase to the boys' dormitory as quickly and quietly as possible, returning with the cloak in one hand, and the Marauder's Map in the other.

The exited the Common Room, ignoring protests from the Fat Lady ("It's past curfew!"), and Harry pulled the cloak around himself and Ginny. "Er…let me know if this is…too much for you." Harry whispered as they slowly walked down the corridor.

Ginny laughed quietly, "You aren't angry right now, so this is bearable."

Harry tapped the map, muttering _"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."_ He scanned it quickly; Filch was a few corridors below, so he was careful to keep his eye on the tiny dot with his name.

Harry found it difficult to concentrate on the map and walking, while being so close to Ginny for the first time in over a week. He was relieved that she no longer requested distance from him, however he was having much more difficulty than he had ever imagined. They were halfway down the second floor corridor when Mrs. Norris meowed menacingly, Harry swore under his breath for not keeping a more attentive eye on the map.

He backed himself against the stone wall pulling Ginny close to him, hoping to keep the ancient cat's attention from them. They were unsuccessful, as the cat continued to stare and hiss at them.

"Can't I kick her, just this once?" Ginny said in a hushed voice, irritably.

Harry tried to suppress his laughter, "Shhh..Filch will be here any second." Within seconds, Filch was limping down the corridor grumbling furiously about Peeves and rotten students.

"What is it, my sweet?" He asked Mrs. Norris who was still staring at their invisible form. Filch held his lantern closer to their spot against the wall, and Harry pressed himself further against it; holding his breath. Ginny pressed her face into his shoulder, and if he wasn't mistaken she was trying her very best to stifle her giggles.

What felt like ages later, Filch looking immensely dissatisfied, scooped up Mrs. Norris and disappeared in the direction he came from.

Harry let out his breath and Ginny looked up at him and burst into peals of laughter, as if it were the most amusing thing in the world. Inevitably, he began laughing too, "Can I ask you what you found so funny about that?"

She bit her lip, still smiling, looking as if she was turning it over in her mind, "You know, I really have no idea." Harry couldn't help but notice that her arms had now been circled around his neck, and he looked at her curiously.

"What?" She said, cocking her head to one side. He could feel her warm steady breath on his face, and before he really knew what he was doing he was kissing her. Within seconds she responded, kissing him back, softly at first, almost unsure, and then slowly deepening.

They broke apart after several minutes, and Ginny stared into his eyes in a way that he had never seen her look at him before. "Wow." She said almost inaudibly.

He wasn't sure what she meant by 'wow,' so the only coherent thought that came to his mind was to apologize for doing something so unexpected, "I'm sor—"

"Don't." She said, pressing one finger to his lips, with a smile. She silently laced her fingers into his and they continued their walk down to the kitchens.

Harry chanced a glance down at the map quickly; their path was clear, but there was a lone dot on the Hogwarts grounds slowly approaching the castle. He stopped abruptly in his tracks, startling Ginny to a stop as well; the dot labeled _Peter Pettigrew_ grew ever closer.

"What is it, Harry?" Ginny asked fear in her eyes undoubtedly due to his expression.

"Wormtail…he's on the grounds. Go to Dumbledore's office, _now_." He dropped her hand and began running towards the doors to the grounds.

"HARRY! What do you think you're doing?!" She began running after him.

"Someone's got to make sure he doesn't get away. I can't let him escape this time. Ginny, _please_ go to Dumbledore."

"Harry, I can't—"

"_NOW!"_ He ran towards the grounds once more, hoping that Ginny would follow his instruction.

Harry halted once more at the great oak doors, realizing suddenly that he didn't have a plan. He reached for his wand which was in his back pocket, and held it in front of him, and made sure the cloak was securely around him, before he pushed the doors open.

The biggest problem was that Wormtail might have been in his rat form, thus making it almost impossible for Harry to spot him. He looked at the map again, quickly; Wormtail was not more than six feet away from him. Harry acted as quickly as possible, not even certain if what he was about to do would work; _"Accio!"_ He said, pointing his wand in the direction that the map portrayed Wormtail.

Much to his surprise, the small rat came flying at Harry. He dropped his hold on the cloak and caught it. Several seconds passed before Wormtail began struggling to get loose from Harry's grip; he attempted to bite Harry, but he was quicker, stunning the wiggling creature before he could be successful.

He rushed back inside the castle, running toward Dumbledore's office nearly colliding with the Headmaster himself.

"Harry, what on earth is going on?" Dumbledore said anxiously.

"Sir, it's Wormtail…he was out on the grounds." Harry said, breathlessly holding up the withering rat in his left hand.

"Indeed it is." The Headmaster said gravely, squinting behind his half-moon spectacles at the rat's silvery paw. "Follow me up to my office." He said, leading the way to the stone gargoyles.

When they were within Dumbledore's office, he wasted absolutely no time, rushing over to the fireplace, throwing floo powder inside, "Severus Snape," He said, waiting for a response.

Not two seconds later, Snape's voice could be heard, "Yes, Headmaster?"

"Severus, we are going to need a vile of veritaserum immediately."

~*~

A/N: I'm incredibly sorry that this took longer than I had originally anticipated, but life has been pretty hectic, with finals coming up, and the holidays fast approaching. Not to mention, that _The Tales of Beedle the Bard _was released earlier today! I hope you've all purchased or are planning on purchasing a copy, not only because it is a wonderful new part of our favorite world, but also because the proceeds go to a charity (The Children's High Level Group).

A special thanks to Tracie, as always, for encouraging me to write when I've neglected to put more time into it! :P

And of course, thanks to those of you who reviewed the last chapter: **Col. Hammer, .yes, Selonianth, Callie258, ProfessorChris, Puff2836, psycho_turtle008, Comet Moon, B00kw0rm92, **and **Gin M. Weasley. :)**

I hope you enjoyed this chapter—it gave me quite a difficult time, and I REALLY hope it's satisfactory!

Please don't forget to review!! :)


	13. Justice

The Guardians

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these wonderful characters; they all belong to the magnificent J.K. Rowling. (Except for the original few that you'll be able to recognize yourselves!)

**Chapter 13: Justice**

Snape materialized in the fireplace seconds later, "What is it, Headmaster?" The bat-like professor scanned Dumbledore's office worriedly at first, but then spotting Harry and Ginny, narrowed his eyes. He smirked, "Or should I say, what has Potter done _this time_?"

"I've just caught one of your _master's _chums." Harry seethed, holding up the still unconscious rat. Snape's expression flickered to one of concern, but quickly set back into sneering at the pair of them accusingly.

Dumbledore looked at Harry sternly over his half moon spectacles, but then turned to Snape. "It is true, Severus. Peter Pettigrew was approaching the castle and Harry caught him before he was able to attempt forcing entry."

"And may I ask Potter, what were you and Ms. Weasley doing out on the grounds after hours?" Snape sneered.

"We weren't—" Harry began.

Dumbledore cut him off mid-sentence, "We have plenty of time to discuss _how _Harry came to discover Wormtail's arrival on the grounds, however, it is much more imperative that we begin interrogating our prisoner."

"Very well." Snape said in a clipped voice, pulling a vile of the clear truth serum out of his robes and handing it to Dumbledore.

"Put Wormtail in that chair." Dumbledore said, pointing to one of the two chairs in front of his desk.

Harry looked skeptically at the Headmaster. He didn't want the murdering traitor to have any chance of escaping once he was free of Harry's grasp, but Dumbledore nodded reassuringly and Harry placed Wormtail's still body on the chair. Dumbledore glanced at each of them in turn, and then faced Pettigrew. He waved his wand at the rat, and he instantly began morphing back into his human form.

Snape stepped forward, "Allow me, Headmaster." With that, he too waved his wand, and vine like chords shot from the end, wrapping around Wormtail's wrists, securing him tightly to the chair. Harry silently thanked Snape for this precaution, remembering all too well when Wormtail escaped the last time.

"_Ennervate_." Dumbledore murmured, awakening Pettigrew.

"Hello, Peter. It's so kind of you to join us this evening." Harry wondered how Dumbledore could be so calm in such a situation. He on the other hand was doing his best to keep from pacing the room. Ginny apparently sensed his anxiety, and grabbed his hand, giving it a small squeeze.

"Now," Dumbledore continued just as coolly, "we can proceed in two different directions. Either you cooperate with us, and give us the answers we desire voluntarily, _or _we can administer the truth serum and force you into telling the truth. Which will it be, Mr. Pettigrew?" Wormtail squirmed uncomfortably, and began to stutter very incoherently.

"Sir—" Harry began, but realized that Snape too objected at the same moment.

"Headmaster," Snape interjected, "why on Earth would you give him an option? We all know he's going to lie as though his life depended upon it."

"Yes, I am quite aware of that. However, I would still like to grant him the option of being cooperative."

Snape didn't look convinced, but let the Headmaster continue. "What was that, Peter?" He coaxed, as if talking to a small child.

"He'll kill me if I tell you!" Wormtail finally got out in a squeaky, terrified whisper.

"Ah, then I presume you'd like to do this the more difficult way." Dumbledore turned to Snape, "He's all yours Severus."

Wormtail began sobbing instantly, but Snape, being Snape, showed no mercy and wrenched Wormtail's balding head back by what was left of his hair, pouring the clear liquid down his throat. The rat-like man visibly went into an involuntary trance, brought on by the truth potion.

"What is your full name?" drawled Snape, apparently testing if the potion had taken effect yet.

"Peter Phillip Pettigrew."

Snape nodded, immediately jumping into the more essential questions. "Why were you on the Hogwarts grounds tonight?"

"To see if the rumors about the Lestrange girl were true." Wormtail's voice responded mechanically.

"How did you find out about the Lestrange girl in the first place?"

"Draco Malfoy wrote to his father, informing him of his long lost cousin's arrival at Hogwarts."

"Did anyone tell the Dark Lord about her?"

"No. Lucius only informed me of the news. He didn't even tell Bellatrix. He simply sent me to find out if it were true."

Snape nodded, but continued to fire his next question at Wormtail. "How were you planning on getting into the castle tonight if Potter had not shown up?"

"I was going to wait outside the door, until someone let me in tomorrow morning."

At this, Harry had noticed that Snape caught Dumbledore's eye, and nodded briefly. Snape continued his interrogation, however, as if this exchange had not occurred.

"Was there any other information that you were sent to retrieve?"

"No."

"Is there anything of value that you can give us?"

"I am not privileged to any knowledge prior to a mission."

Snape smirked triumphantly, and glanced at the rest of them. "Are we satisfied?"

"Yes, I believe so. Harry?" Dumbledore looked at Harry, his brow raising.

Harry nodded silently. He wasn't quite sure of what to make of what had just occurred. On one hand, Wormtail's information was relatively useless, but on the other…Sirius' name would finally be cleared. His heart leapt at this very thought. Ginny looked at him quizzically clearly at his quick change of emotion.

"_Stupefy!"_ With Snape's incantation, Wormtail's body went slack once more. "As thrilled as I am to see that the rat is no longer within the inner circle, he was useless to us."

"Maybe; however, we are finally able to properly clear Mr. Black's name." Dumbledore voiced Harry's very thoughts.

"Pity he isn't alive to enjoy it." Snape said without the slightest bit of pity in his tone. Harry glared at him and missed the quick exchange of glances between Dumbledore and Ginny.

Ginny spoke up for the first time since they entered the office, "Professor, what about Cassidy? Aren't you afraid that the rest of the Death Eater's will eventually find out?"

Harry was glad that she mentioned this. Truthfully he hadn't even thought of the potential problems that could now arise.

Dumbledore seemed to think this over, responding carefully. "I assure you that Ms. Lestrange is quite safe here. Arrangements are being made for her safety throughout the holidays, as well." Before Ginny was given a chance to question further, Dumbledore said, "Now Harry, Ginny…I believe that it is time for you to return to your dormitories. I must call upon the Minister to escort Mr. Pettigrew to Azkaban. Thank you both for all of your assistance."

But Harry had just one more question before he returned to Gryffindor Tower, "Professor, since he's an animagus…well, will he be _secure _in Azkaban?"

Snape looked as if he was going to make a retort, but Dumbledore interrupted, "A valid point, Harry. Yes…Mr. Pettigrew will be placed in a much higher security cell than Sirius was, since we are well aware of his ability to transform."

"Thank you, Sir."

"Is there anything else?" Dumbledore asked and Harry shook his head. "Very well. I will be in touch with you about a memorial service for Sirius, as soon as I make the arrangements. Goodnight."

Both Harry and Ginny wished the Headmaster a goodnight, making no further acknowledgement to Snape and made their way back to Gryffindor Tower.

~*~

When it was only Dumbledore and Snape left in the room, the Headmaster wasted no time in contacting the Minister. He walked up to the fireplace and threw a handful of floo powder into the grate, voicing, "Cornelius Fudge" into the flickering green flames.

When Fudge appeared in the fireplace he looked alarmed, "Dumbledore? Is everything alright; has He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named made an attempt on the school?!"

Snape smirked; it was typical of the Minister to go to extremes, now that he had ceased to be a dim-witted fool.

If Dumbledore was amused, he did not betray any signs of it for he continued, "No, not quite. But we have managed to contain a suspected Death Eater. If you could come to Hogwarts at once, it would be greatly appreciated."

Snape could see the apprehension on the Minister's face, and wondered if they'd have to question Pettigrew again. He sincerely hoped that he would not have to waste more Veritaserum on this man. The only use that stemmed from his capture was proving Black's innocence, and it was well known that _that _particular thing meant very little to Snape. However he knew that no matter what, he would have to oblige any order given by Dumbledore, especially when it came to anything involving Potter.

"Of course, of course." Fudge said, stifling a yawn. "Just unblock the floo, and I'll be right over." His head disappeared, and the Headmaster waved his wand muttering a series of spells.

Within minutes, Fudge appeared within the fireplace, wearing orange pin-striped pajamas and a long black dressing gown. He brushed the soot off himself, glancing around the room almost uninterestedly. He did a double take upon seeing Pettigrew and his face grew shocked, "Is that…but it _can't _be. And his _hand;_ it is silver!"

"Yes, Cornelius, that is in fact Peter Pettigrew." Dumbledore said simply, obviously waiting for Fudge's dissent.

"But that's _impossible! _Pettigrew was murdered fifteen years ago…"

"We were all fooled, Minister." Snape began. "We have just interrogated Pettigrew under Veritaserum not more than ten minutes ago to reveal the reasons behind his attempted entry into the school." He wanted to cut right to the point, enough of his time had been wasted with this trivial matter, and he wanted to go back to bed.

"Well, I am going to need to witness an official confession from him. We need Aurors present of course, but I believe it can wait until morning." Snape had been reading Fudge's thoughts and could easily tell that he was feeling awful for his mistake. In the last few minutes he had run through the events of the last few years, recounting the night that Black had almost wrongfully been kissed by the Dementors. He was visibly sweating because he was afraid of what repercussions he was going to face in the upcoming days. He was very keen to keep this off for as long as possible.

"Absolutely not, Cornelius." Dumbledore said firmly. "Your humiliation is worth nothing in comparison to the pain that so many have suffered at the hands of this man."

Fudge sank down into an armchair in front of Dumbledore's desk and wiped the sweat off his brown with the back of his hand. He nodded silently, and eventually said, "S-summon as many Aurors as you see fit, Dumbledore."

Snape smirked derisively at the apparent defeat in the Minister's attitude. He had just about handed the reins over to Dumbledore. The characteristic twinkle was evident in the headmaster's eyes, as he too caught this. "I'd gladly call upon some Aurors, but is that not _your _job?"

"I've already done enough damage, haven't I?! Go on, you're in command here."

"Very well." Dumbledore strode over to the fireplace once more, throwing a handful of floo powder into it. When the flames were green he called, "Kingsley Shacklebot."

"Dumbledore!" Shacklebot was visibly startled as well.

"Hello Kingsley. We seem to have captured Peter Pettigrew. Would you and a few of your Aurors mind coming here to make the arrest? You might want to bring along Remus Lupin as well."

"You're kidding! We'll be there in five minutes." With that, his head disappeared.

Fudge spoke up again, sounding miserable, "I assume you're in contact with Sirius Black? You may as well tell him to come along, while you're at it."

That statement caught Snape off guard and he almost felt regret for Black's situation, until he realized who was being discussed.

"Sirius was murdered last June at the Department of Mysteries." Dumbledore said somberly.

This was too much for Fudge; he immediately lost his composure, "I'm going to get sacked, aren't I? When the press finds out…" He had begun to pace the office, his slippers making a shuffling noise as he dragged his feet. He was muttering things like "All of these mistakes…lucky I haven't been sacked already…"

"Cornelius, sit down; no decisions have been made yet. If you recall, Sirius' initial arrest had nothing to do with you." Dumbledore consoled.

Snape was impressed with this statement, for he knew that Dumbledore wouldn't have minded if Fudge was replaced. Then again, he also knew that Dumbledore and every other Order member, including himself, were worried about who would replace Fudge, had the situation arose.

Within minutes, Shacklebot arrived, followed shortly after by Tonks and then Lupin. Lupin looked pale as he studied the scene in front of him. His thoughts revealed the obvious: he was relieved that this would finally be behind him, devastated that Black wouldn't be able to benefit from this, and then there was this obscure hope that was tucked away at the back of his mind. This particular thought intrigued Snape, and he was about to dig further, but was interrupted by Dumbledore.

"Severus, I believe you still have the rest of that Veritaserum? Would you mind administering it, so we could get this over with?" He knew that the headmaster asked him at that particular moment in order to interrupt his prying, and made a mental note to continue later.

"Of course, Headmaster." He said shortly, pulling out the vile once more, quietly lamenting how wasteful this was.

"In all honesty, Minister," Shacklebot began, "We all know this story, and can identify Pettigrew. This confession isn't entirely necessary."

Snape was glad that someone else, particularly someone with authority, had brought that matter to the forefront. The rest of the occupants in the room seemed to quietly agree; Fudge however, was clearly enraged by this thought. "I understand that you're probably correct, however I'd like to do this the proper way. _Legally_. Had that been done in the _first _place, then we wouldn't be dealing with this mess right now."

"I see nothing wrong with that. Perhaps we ought to record this on our wands as well, so that the press can receive it accurately tomorrow morning?" Dumbledore suggested.

Everyone nodded their assent. Snape took this as his cue to administer the Veritaserum. Simultaneously, all six of them incanted, "_expediente," _to begin recording the imminent confession.

"What is your full name?" Snape began for the second time that night.

"Peter Phillip Pettigrew." Pettigrew said in the same trance-like voice he had possessed earlier.

"Tell us how you became a servant for the Dark Lord."

With that, Pettigrew began recounting his life for the last fifteen years. Everyone else in the room looked visibly saddened by the story; Tonks and Lupin even shed tears. Snape however, maintained his usual contempt for the matter as he questioned their prisoner for the second time that evening.

~*~

The next morning Harry woke up late due to the events of the previous night. Ron had already gone down to breakfast, as had the rest of the occupants of the 6th year boys' dormitory. Harry dressed quickly, and rushed to the Great Hall as fast as his feet would carry him; he had yet to tell Ron and Hermione about what had occurred only a few hours ago. He opened the great oak doors, and strode at a fast pace across to the Gryffindor table. Within seconds his arrival was noticed by the rest of the students and all went silent. They stared at him, and he was immediately aware that somehow, the entire school already knew.

Right on cue, groups of people began whispering while shooting him sideways glances. "I'm sorry for your loss, Harry." One younger Hufflepuff girl said soberly as he passed. He returned his gaze to the Gryffindor table and walked the rest of the way to it. Many avoided his gaze, but Ron, Hermione and Ginny were the few that didn't. Ron moved closer to Hermione, and made room for Harry. Ginny was on his other side; she silently grasped his hand as he sat down beside her.

"You okay, mate?" Ron asked his voice rough.

Harry nodded, "There was an article?" He knew there was no need to ask this; it was the only way the entire school would know already.

Hermione handed him the Prophet without a word. He glanced at her and saw her eyes shining.

_**A 'Sirius' Mistake**_

**Reported by Naomi Adams**

_We are all familiar with Sirius Black's story; we all know that dozens of witnesses saw him blow up a street full of muggles, killing thirteen people, one being a wizard named Peter Pettigrew. However, late last night, we were informed of a massive mistake made by our very own Ministry, nearly fifteen years ago. Black was not the murdering madman that we thought he was. _

The article went on to tell the true story, detailing how Pettigrew betrayed Harry and his parents, framed Sirius, disappeared as result of his ability to illegally transform into an animagus, eventually escaping to resurrect Voldemort; and finally a brief retelling of how Harry himself had captured Wormtail just hours before. Harry was grateful that it went into this much detail—Sirius deserved this kind of justice, even if he was not here to revel in it. He read on to the most heart-wrenching part:

_Sadly, Black will not be able to enjoy his freedom, for he was murdered last June by his own cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange (who escaped Azkaban last year, shortly after the resurrection of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named) during a battle that took place at the Department of Mysteries. The full details of this battle were not disclosed. It is rumored that not only the legendary Order of the Phoenix took part in the fight, but Harry Potter and a few other Hogwarts students as well; however Albus Dumbledore refused to make further comments on this matter._

_A memorial service is set to be held at Hogwarts on the 30__th__ of October at 7pm. Albus Dumbledore encourages all who wish to pay their respects to the late Sirius Black to attend the ceremony._

_Finally, on behalf of the entire staff of the Daily Prophet, I send my condolences to Harry Potter, who is no doubt suffering greatly due to the loss of his godfather._

_**To read about how the Ministry plans on handling the consequences of their blunder, turn to page 15.**_

Harry blinked away tears, and placed the article down beside his plate. "Well, I'm just glad Rita Skeeter didn't get her hands on that story." He said after a few minutes, when he was sure he gained his composure.

Hermione giggled, though upon looking at her, Harry saw tears streaming down her face. Soon Harry began laughing too, shortly followed by Ron and Ginny. The pain was easier to deal with when he laughed.

Just then, Cassidy stood abruptly from her place across the table. Harry hadn't even noticed her until that moment but before she rushed away, he was able to catch a glimpse of her face. She was in tears and looked more distraught than the rest of them. He understood why immediately. The article had specifically mentioned her mother's name, and Harry couldn't imagine how terrible it must have felt to find out that your mother was a murderer from a newspaper article.

"We should have told her before…" Ginny muttered worriedly. She was pale and Harry could tell that she was overwhelmed by the emotions of those around her.

"No matter how she found out, it wouldn't have been easy." Hermione said quietly.

"_Dumbledore _should have told her." Harry said firmly, looking up at the staff table with meaning.

"He's worried." Ginny stated. Just as these words left her mouth, Dumbledore rose and quickly exited the room, through the door located just behind the staff table. Harry made to do the same, but through the main doors, hoping to beat Dumbledore to Cassidy. But Ginny and Ron both laid hands on his arms. Hermione looked impressed at Ron's quickness in restricting Harry.

"Let Dumbledore clean up his mess, Harry." Ginny said, squeezing his arm reassuringly.

"To Sirius," Ron said abruptly, a few minutes later, raising his goblet of pumpkin juice.

"To Sirius." The other three repeated in unison, clanking their goblets together.

A/N: I know, I know...I'm terrible at updating, and I deserve to get things thrown at me. BUT! I have to be honest, this chapter took me forever because it never seemed to come out the way I hoped it would. I'm still not entirely fond of it, but it'll have to do, because the story must go on! I'm going to try to update as often as I possibly can because no matter what I do, this story won't leave me alone. It needs to get finished one way or another, and I plan on trying my very best to do that! :)

Thank you to those who have continued to review, and ask me to keep going. The encouraging comments always motivate me to write whenever I can!


	14. Of Past and Present

The Guardians

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these wonderful characters; they all belong to the magnificent J.K. Rowling. (Except for the original few that you'll be able to recognize yourselves!)

**Chapter 14: Of Past and Present**

The bright October sunlight filtered through the stained glass window, creating myriads of dancing light all over Alixandra's room. She looked at the clock on her bedside table and saw that it was nearly 9am. Stretching, she finally decided that it was time to rise, since breakfast usually arrived at 9:30. It was Saturday, and since Aurora had been unaccustomed to such a large array of people, Alixandra was trying to make life as normal as possible for her on weekends. They spent all of Saturday and Sunday together, even eating breakfast in their room (the house elves had kindly agreed to send breakfast up to them).

Her private quarters were comprised of her own bedroom, a smaller one adjacent to it that belonged to Aurora and just down a small winding staircase was a common room, complete with a large fireplace, as well as a comfortable sofa and squashy armchair, both deep red in color. She peaked into Aurora's room to see that she was still fast asleep, and then descended down the staircase.

When she walked into the room, the morning _Prophet _was already sitting on the table, as expected. Lighting a fire first, she settled into the armchair and began to skim it idly when a photo of a familiar handsome face caught her eye. Her heart skipped a beat as she studied his features; she hesitantly ran her fingers over the black and white image. Her eyes moved over to the accompanying article, and as she began to read it, the words instantly blurred due to tears that quickly clouded her vision.

"No…this can't be…" Her nearly inaudible whispers were lost in the uncontrollable sobs that quickly overcame her. She curled her body into a ball and sunk deeper into the chair; still sobbing, refusing to allow reality to sink in. She continued sobbing, not allowing herself to settle on any particular thoughts. Quite some time had passed before she was brought back to the present with the sound of a voice somewhere in the room around her.

"Alix? _Alixandra!"_ The voice sounded familiar, but she didn't want to see anyone, to face what she had just read. Begrudgingly she finally lifted her head and to her great surprise there was no one in the room.

"Over here!" Came the impatient voice of her sister, Victoria; her face was floating in the fireplace. She looked concerned, but she was definitely one of the last people Alix wanted to see at the present moment.

"You read it then?" She said apprehensively. Alixandra merely nodded.

"Where is Aurora?" Victoria questioned, steering the conversation away from the article.

"Asleep." She responded, barely finding her voice.

"I'm going to take her for a few days. For however long you need."

"I don't want you to do that…" Alix said halfheartedly, wiping her eyes.

"Yes you do, Alix." Her sister said matter-of-factly.

"I don't want to be alone." She whispered.

"Do you want me to stay with you then?" Victoria offered.

Alixandra nodded mutely.

Victoria sighed, "You and I both know that isn't what you want. You'd rather be alone. If I stay with you, you're going to send me away within the next twenty-four hours. Let's just skip all of this in-between rubbish, shall we?"

Alix contemplated this for a bit; she knew that Victoria was right—but at the same time, could she handle being alone right now?

Victoria spoke again, "I'm just trying to help you the best way I can. Last time you lost Sirius, you left without warning—for years. I know you'd rather mourn him alone. But I'd prefer that you didn't run away this time."

Before she had a chance to respond coherently, she broke into a fresh wave of sobs. Alixandra hated crying, and rarely allowed herself the time to do it, but on the rare occasion that she did, it generally turned out like this. Hearing his name, as well as the sentiment in her sister's offer was just too much at once.

"I'll be there in five minutes." Came Victoria's voice from the fireplace, and within seconds her face disappeared from view.

~*~

Later that afternoon, Harry and Ron were playing a game of chess (Ron was winning by a long-shot) in the Common Room, while Ginny and Hermione were off being secretive in the library. Harry had been waiting anxiously to talk to Cassidy, but she was nowhere to be found. When Ron had beaten Harry for the third time in a row, they decided to call it quits.

They stood up and stretched their arms and legs after sitting in one place for so long. Ron glanced out the window, "Do you fancy a fly around the pitch? The weather seems perfect."

"All right." Harry agreed. The two quickly ran up the dormitory to retrieve their brooms and set out the portrait hole, making their way to the entrance hall. When they began to make their trek to the Quidditch pitch they were stopped in their tracks by the site of Cassidy sitting under a tree in the opposite direction.

"Do you think Dumbledore talked to her?" Ron inquired.

"I don't know, but do you think _we _should talk to her?" Harry asked. Ron looked skeptical but he nodded anyway. They closed the distance between themselves and Cassidy in quick strides.

"Hello…" she muttered, keeping her eyes focused on her hands.

"Can we join you?" Harry gestured to the space around her.

She shrugged and replied lifelessly, "Sure…why not."

"Er…I suppose I owe you an apology." Harry began, unsure if this was the right way to approach the situation, or if he should approach it at all.

She looked up abruptly, her red rimmed eyes widened in disbelief, "_You_ owe _me_ an apology? You didn't do anything wrong, Harry. It's _my _mother who is a…murderer." She whispered the last word, almost afraid to voice it.

"Well I just mean because I should have told you about all of that. You shouldn't have found out like this…"

"_No_…Dumbledore should have told me. The only information he gave me prior to my arrival at Hogwarts was that my birth mother was dangerous, and I was not advised to seek her out." Her quiet voice could not hide the contempt she obviously felt for Dumbledore's knack for hiding the most important pieces of the truth.

"I'm not going to defend Dumbledore, because he's told me a fair share of distorted truths as well. But I will say that he usually has his reasons. I'm sure he thought he was protecting you." Harry reassured her.

"I understand that, but didn't he realize that so many people would shun me because of it? I mean, what if I was placed in…Slytherin. Draco Malfoy is my cousin…what if he tried to recruit me to the dark side?" Her grey eyes widened with concern, as she searched both Harry and Ron's faces for answers.

Harry was impressed with how quickly she had come to realize that if the Sorting Hat had decided to place her elsewhere, she might be in a great deal more of danger at this very moment.

"Well Dumbledore seemed to have more faith in you than that, Cassidy! He could probably see from the first meeting that you were much better than any Slytherin." Ron said, trying to cheer her up. She allowed a small smile in return.

"What about your parents—the muggle ones?" Harry asked.

"The day I left for school, Dumbledore sent them into hiding. He told me he was going to change their names, modify their memories—all so that they wouldn't remember me; so that they would be safe." Her voice quavered as she explained this.

"Good." Harry and Ron said simultaneously.

Seeing the distress upon their friends face, Ron quickly continued, "So I suppose you'll be in need of a place to stay over the holidays?"

"He said he's already arranged something for the summer and that I'm welcome to go there for the Christmas holiday as well."

"I bet its Headquarters. You'll get to spend it with us! What do you think, Harry?" Ron turned to him.

Harry responded flatly, "I'm not going there for Christmas." It was one thing accepting that Sirius was dead, but another thing entirely to go the place Sirius dreaded most, second to Azkaban.

Ron's enthusiasm fell away, and the three of them sat in silence for a few minutes, each contemplating their own thoughts.

The silence was broken by Ron; "You know what I don't understand? Why did Dumbledore make you use the name 'Lestrange'?"

Harry contemplated this, "Yeah, did he tell you his reason, Cassidy?"

"Yes…I completely forgot until now actually. This would definitely interest you. He said he'd intended to create discord in Voldemort's inner circle."

"But how?" Harry asked, intrigued while Ron flinched at Cassidy's casual use of the name.

"Apparently, no one knew of my birth mother's pregnancy. Not even my supposed father."

"Supposed?" Ron's brow furrowed.

Cassidy nodded, "Dumbledore doesn't think that Rodolphus Lestrange is my real father."

"Who does he think it is then?" Harry said, worriedly. The only other person that came to mind was Voldemort, because of Bellatrix's obvious infatuation with her master. This made Harry shudder, but he made sure to keep this bit of speculation to himself, as to not worry Cassidy more than she needed to be. But he sincerely hoped that he was completely wrong.

"He didn't say. I don't think he's too sure himself."

"Wait a second," Ron interrupted, "How did _he _know of your existence then…if no one else knew that Bellatrix was pregnant?"

"He saw it in a pensieve that he found. I'm not too sure what that is though. He tried explaining it, but I can't imagine being able to remove a memory to store it elsewhere…"

"Whose pensieve was it?" Harry pressed.

She bit her lip, as if trying to remember. "He said a name, _oh_!The last name was 'Black,' like your godfather Harry, but his name wasn't Sirius."

"Regulus?" Harry voiced.

"Yes! Do you know him too?" Cassidy said a hint of excitement in her voice.

"Well, not exactly, he died about fifteen years ago. He was Sirius' brother, and your—Bellatrix's cousin. But I can bet anything that the pensieve Dumbledore found was somewhere in headquarters." He said this last bit more to Ron.

"So someone _did _know that Bellatrix was pregnant!" Ron said. "Do you think that's why Regulus was killed?"

"It's a possibility…" Harry's mind was racing with all of this new knowledge, but he didn't want Cassidy to dwell on any of it too much. She was too new to this world to have to bear these burdens; she deserved to enjoy her time at Hogwarts, just as much as the rest of her classmates. "Come on, let's go get some lunch."

The three of them made their way back to the castle, and when they were almost to the great oak front doors, when Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic stormed out looking flustered. He glanced at the three of them, but did not greet them; he continued speeding towards the gates that lead to Hogsmeade.

"What do you reckon that was about?" Ron glanced back at the Minister bewilderedly.

"I don't know, but judging by recent events, it _can't _be good." Harry muttered in reply as he stopped to watch Fudge practically fly from the grounds.

~*~

"Have you found _anything_ useful yet?" Ginny said exasperatedly.

"No…some of these books merely mention the veil, but it's so obscure! All of these books say the same thing, _'The mysterious veil that seemingly leads to nowhere,' _or something similar to that. It's stated in so many books, but no one ever _elaborates _on it. Aren't _any _of these people interested in it _why _it's so mysterious?" Came Hermione's frustrated reply.

Ginny looked up from the book she was searching, "Well…_you _weren't." She clearly remembered Hermione not being remotely intrigued by the veil.

"That's not true," Hermione argued, "I just didn't hear voices like the rest of you seemed to."

"Well maybe that's it then; the people writing these books never heard voices, so they didn't think much of it. And the ones that _did _hear the voices…well, I'd rather not admit this, but I guarantee you they ended up right where Sirius is."

"You're probably right. Have you had any luck?" Hermione nodded towards the ancient tome in front of Ginny.

She sighed, "Not exactly…but for some reason I can't stop searching this book." Ginny had been translating each chapter or section title of the runic text that she was currently examining. If any of the titles sounded promising, she would continue to translate the chapter, hoping to find something of use. So far she had been unsuccessful.

"Well what if there's nothing in there…that's so much wasted time." Hermione voiced the very same thing Ginny had been worrying about.

"I know, but there's just _something _about _this _book." She exclaimed pointing to it with conviction.

"I know but…Ginny, what if there's some sort of time limit that we don't know about? What if we _do _find the solution, but it's too late?"

Ginny bit her lip. This was yet another item on her long list of things to worry about. "Believe me, Hermione, I think about that every day. Why do you think I'm in here so often?"

Hermione nodded, and Ginny continued. "I think my strong feeling about this book has something to do with my empathy. It's sort of like how I knew about Sirius. I just _know _there's something important in here, and I _need _to find it."

"Who's the author of that book anyway?" Hermione asked a few minutes later.

Ginny flipped to the weathered front cover of the book, "Celestia Henrey." She looked up at her friend, "Why?"

"Well, maybe I should begin looking her up…to see if she's written anything else, or to see if she's done anything noteworthy."

Ginny nodded in agreement as Hermione rose from the table to ask Madame Pince to point her in the right direction. Hermione was gone for several minutes, and Ginny glanced up to see if she'd had any luck. Hermione was still standing near Madame Pince's desk with a look of disappointment on her face. Madame Pince looked up at Hermione, and shook her head. They conversed for a few minutes before Hermione nodded and headed back over to Ginny.

"Well, Madame Pince says she's got nothing else written by her in the library, but that she would send out a few owls to see if she can find anything elsewhere. I'm going to check the Registry of Witches and Wizards to at least see when she was born." Hermione looked defeated, but continued, "I think we should get some lunch before we research anymore. You need to eat."

Ginny narrowed her eyes, "Did Harry tell you that?"

Hermione smiled wryly in reply, "_Maybe_. But you _should _eat, Ginny. As important as this is, you cannot dedicate every waking moment to it. Come on, you can take the book with you."

Ginny rolled her eyes, but agreed to take a break. The two of them gathered their scattered pieces of parchment and a few books along with the one by Celestia Henrey and made their way to the Great Hall.

~*~

Remus had found himself at Hogwarts once more. It seemed to be a pattern these days; he wasn't sure exactly what to make of it. Usually, he loved being at Hogwarts, but lately every time he set foot on the grounds he was constantly reminded of the pain of losing Sirius. He sighed as he made his way up many flights of stairs to the Astronomy Tower. When he arrived at the door, he took a deep breath before opening it. Just as he expected, Alix was laying on a thin blanket gazing at the stars. He stared at her lonely figure, briefly allowing himself to remember a much happier time, when he could expect to find Alix and Sirius here together. The memory faded when Alix was visibly startled at his sudden presence.

"Remus, what are you doing here?"

"Looking for you."

"How did you know that I'd be here?"

Remus couldn't help but laugh, "Alix, I've known you for years. You _always _used to come here. Especially when Sirius upset you...so why would now be any different?"

Her gaze shifted to her hands, her face now unreadable.

"May I join you?" Remus asked, stepping closer to her spot on the ground.

She nodded silently still looking down at her hands. She furiously wiped at her eyes, but Remus pulled her hands away. "You're allowed to cry, you know."

"But you're not! If anyone should be crying it should be you! You stuck by him, and I ran away, like a fool."

Remus shook his head. "First of all, I _did not _stick by him the entire time. The twelve years that he spent in Azkaban, I believed he was guilty, just as much as you did. Secondly, I have cried, many times. And now it's your turn."

"You believed him more than I did though. When he wrote those letters, begging for us to trust that he was innocent. You tried to find a way, but I…I left without looking back." She sniffed, tears trickling down her face.

"I gave up eventually too, Alix, because without Peter, there was no way to prove anything. When you left, I was forced to search on my own; I began to second guess everything that I had tried to convince you of. I stopped looking for Peter, and I ignored the rest of Sirius' letters, until he stopped writing. I failed Sirius. Of course, he forgave me for it when he returned, but to this day I can't help but think about how easily I gave up. He never would have given up if the situation were reversed…" Remus swallowed the lump that was beginning to form in his throat.

"I'm so sorry I left…I can't imagine how you must have felt. You were all alone…"

Against his will, his mind reflected back to the moment he realized he was completely and utterly alone. He had sat in his flat, staring at the fire lifelessly, the latest letter from Sirius clenched in his left hand, and a half empty bottle of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey in his left. He remembered glancing at the table beside the chair he was occupying. Upon it was a framed picture of himself, Sirius, James, and Peter; dropping the half crumpled letter, he slammed the photograph face down on the table, forcefully. The glass had broken, but Remus wasn't concerned. He took a long swig from the bottle in his right hand, nearly draining it. He lowered it from his lips and threw it across the room into the flames before him. The bottle shattered, causing the fire to flare up even more as the remainder of the firewhiskey hit the hot flames. He recalled sobbing for the rest of the night, until he had fallen into a deep sleep, full of dreams of his once happy life.

He shook himself from his reverie; unable to fight the tears that had inevitably formed, Remus put his head in his hands. He felt Alix wrap her arms around him, and listened to her sob into his shoulder for a long time before either of them spoke again.

"Why didn't he try to find me when he came back?" Alix broke the silence after a while.

Remus pulled away from their embrace to look at her. "We looked for you, but you had covered your tracks well. Dumbledore was helping us…I just didn't realize that he'd keep trying to find you once Sirius was gone."

"I thought about coming back, once Aurora was born. But I kept telling myself that I was comfortable. Deep down, I knew the real reason that I continued to stay away was because I was afraid of opening up old wounds."

Remus nodded, he could definitely relate with that; he was instantly reminded of Ginny's strong belief that Sirius was still alive. However, he knew it was best to keep this bit of knowledge from Alix. She, like Harry was very fragile when it came to the loss of Sirius.

"I just wish I could tell him how sorry I am for not believing him."

"He forgave me; he would have forgiven you too." He knew this, not because he and Sirius had discussed it directly, but because of the way Sirius had always acted with Alix.

Remus and Alix remained in silence, as they lay beside each other on the blanket, gazing at the clear, starry sky, both immersed in their own memories, of the friends that they had both cherished and lost.

~*~

A/N: Another short chapter, but I feel like the content kind of makes up for it. Or maybe that's just me. But short chapters are better than no chapters at all, right? Finals are coming up, so I might not be posting another chapter for a few more weeks, but I'll do my best, I promise! Thanks to all those who reviewed Chapter 13; I hope this chapter was satisfying! Please leave a review! I love hearing everyone's feedback, and would love to hear any suggestions you have for the story. :]


	15. Breakthrough

The Guardians

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these wonderful characters; they all belong to the magnificent J.K. Rowling. (Except for the original few that you'll be able to recognize yourselves!)

**Chapter 15: Breakthrough**

It was mid-October and still, Ginny had found nothing substantial pertaining to the veil. How to go beyond it and back to the world of the living unscathed was still a mystery. Every night she stayed in the library later and later, but she always made it to her lessons (bleary eyed at that) the following day. She did not want Professor Dumbledore to prevent her from researching further.

Just as any other day, Ginny forced herself out of bed, and made it through both Charms and Transfiguration; she just had to get through Potions and then it would be time for lunch and a free period immediately following. But to no avail, she began dozing as Snape drawled on about some potion that had no relevance to Ginny at the present moment. Her eyes slipped closed, her head lazily propped up by her right hand. She saw the fluttering black veil beneath her eyelids. Becoming mesmerized, she slipped further into sleep; until she was suddenly ripped from her slumber by a sharp _rap _on the table and an irritable voice coming ever closer as she was ripped from her slumber.

"WEASLEY! Do you expect to pass your O.W.L.s by sleeping through this class?"

As he swooped closer to her, his voice became no more than a whisper, but his icy tone was still prevalent, "I know what you've been up to, and quite frankly I think it's absurd. However, it is clear that my opinion on _that _matter isn't one of importance. But if you think you're going to get away with sneaking off to the library at all hours of the night, _and _sleeping through my lectures, then you are _sadly _mistaken." He took a few steps back and his voice returned to a normal volume, "Detention, Weasley. Next Friday."

"But, Sir! That's Sirius' memorial!" Ginny protested.

Snape smiled icily, turning his back on her to return to the front of the classroom. Ginny began to toss everything into her cauldron roughly, and stormed out of the room, making sure to slam the door behind her. She stomped up the stone steps leading up to the entrance hall from the dungeons.

Almost mechanically, she headed towards the library, paying little attention to where she was going. She was still silently fuming about Snape, when she almost walked straight into Professor Dumbledore. Luckily he was paying enough attention for both of them; he placed his hands on her shoulders to stop her from colliding with him.

"Careful, Miss Weasley!" He chuckled.

Ginny blushed, "Sorry, Sir. I wasn't paying attention."

"Is something on your mind?"

Ginny took a breath, "Well _that's_ a loaded question, Professor. But the reason I nearly plowed you over was due to Professor Snape." She couldn't help the derision that clearly seeped into her tone at these words.

He nodded for her to continue. "He gave me detention for next Friday!"

"Ah." He nodded in understanding. "What did you do that warranted a detention?"

"I _might _have nodded off for a few seconds, and of course he got all touchy about it."

"I'll see to it that he changes the date. In the meantime, I will advise you that there is always a proper time and place for things." He looked at her above his half-moon spectacles, his blue eyes twinkling kindly.

"I'm sorry, Professor. It's just--"

He waved his hand, "There is no need to apologize, Miss Weasley. I understand how essential this matter is, but you mustn't forget that your studies are just as imperative."

She nodded silently, and he continued. "Speaking of your research how is it going, if you don't mind my asking?"

Ginny bit her lip, "Well, I haven't found anything substantial yet. There is this one runic book…the one that you owled that Greek library for. I just have this feeling that it's in there. I just haven't found it yet." She glanced at Dumbledore sheepishly, because she knew this couldn't be remotely close to what he wanted to hear.

To her surprise, he did not look disappointed in the least; he smiled. "Wonderful. Keep up the good work, _but_ at the proper moment in time." He winked at her, and continued in the direction he was headed before they nearly collided.

Ginny glanced at her watch; there was still almost an hour until lunch and it was best not to waste it, so she continued the familiar path to the library. When she arrived, she groaned inwardly at the sight of the pale faced blonde boy sitting at her usual table. Since Hermione had been accompanying her to the library in the last few weeks, Draco had ignored Ginny since the incident at the very beginning of her research. Part of her believed that this was probably a coincidence, but the fact that he was at _that _particular table made it much worse.

In her hesitation, he had glanced up from his book, spotting her. He smirked, and pushed his books away from the empty seat across from him, inviting her to sit with him. Ginny bit her lip, and made her way to the table, hoping that she would not regret it. As she took the seat, she told herself that there was nothing wrong with being curious about Draco Malfoy. After all, he had been the only person (so far) whose emotions were a complete mystery to her.

"Finally got away from that buck-toothed Mud--"

"If you want me to sit here, then I'll have to insist that you don't insult my friends." She said icily.

"Did I ever say that I _wanted _you to sit here, Weasley?" He raised an eyebrow at her. Despite her inability to read his emotions through empathy, he was quite easy to read when it came to such simple expressions such as his sheer amusement at the moment.

Ginny rolled her eyes and began unpacking her rucksack, taking from it the large runic tome, a runic dictionary, a stack of parchment and a quill. She flipped to her marked page and slowly began to translate a passage; Malfoy too, seemingly went back to what he was reading. When the passage revealed to be useless, she flipped to the next section. The book was comprised of accounts of supernatural occurrences throughout time, often involving rare artifacts. This was why Dumbledore had thought it could be useful; that perhaps it would reveal something unknown about the veil. The problem with these accounts was that it was impossible to tell if any of these were true or just fictional tales that ancient people told to get attention.

A considerable amount of time passed before either of them spoke. It was Draco who broke the silence; "Do you practice Occlumency?"

Taken completely off guard by this question, she looked up at him to see a general expression of frustration. "No, why do you ask?"

"No reason." He said, averting his eyes.

She snorted, "Honestly, I'm not stupid. You wouldn't look so perturbed if there _wasn't_ a reason."

"Forget it, Weasley. I was just…trying to make conversation." Ginny could see that he wasn't being entirely truthful.

"Well, then do _you?"_ She countered.

"If I did, why would I tell you?" He snapped.

Sighing Ginny responded, "For someone trying to start a conversation, you're awfully touchy. You expected me to tell you the truth, didn't you?" She knew she was wasting her time arguing with him.

His seemingly everlasting scowl softened, "Yes."

"Yes, you expected me to be honest or--"

"Yes, I practice Occlumency." He said, his patience clearly wearing thin.

"Oh. That's interesting. Was it difficult to learn?" She decided to test how far this conversation could go.

"Not for me." He continued scoffing, "But I have heard that your precious Potter was incapable."

"And here I was thinking we _might _be able to have a civilized conversation." She said wearily, returning to her book.

"Oh come on Weasley, I was only _teasing. _ It's not my fault you're so sensitive when it comes to Potter."

Scowling, she retorted, "I told you from the beginning not to insult my friends. So now, I'll merely go back to ignoring you. It was working just fine for me."

"So you and Potter are just _friends_ then?" She could tell he was determined to bait her until she gave in by responding to his jeers.

Focusing on her book, she was able to tune him out (though he kept talking every few minutes, testing her resolve). She was about to give up for the day when the passage she had been translating for the last quarter of an hour took an interesting turn. Quickly, she finished the paragraph in question and then read it over:

"_Selene Cytheria, a well known practitioner of Empathetic magic described her personal encounter with a mystical black veil that appeared to be a portal to a world apart from our own. Her lover had gone into a dark cave, following what he later reported to be 'whispers,' and failed to return for an entire day. Selene was distraught and feared for his life, so she went into the cave in search of him, where she came across a billowing black curtain hanging in the middle of an enormous archway. As she approached the archway, the whispering became louder and louder. Selene mechanically reached out and touched the veil reciting an incantation in foreign words as if she knew them all along. There was a bright white flash, and she stepped into the archway, passing beyond the veil. She did not give much more detail about what was on the other side, just that she quickly found her muggle lover, and returned back into their rightful world._

Ginny's heart was racing with excitement as she read and reread the passage. She had _finally_ found the proof that she was looking for. It may not have been much, but it was _something_.

Gathering her things speedily, she stuffed them all into her rucksack, but taking extra care to delicately fold the important piece of parchment containing the key to rescuing Sirius, and slipping it into her pocket.

She had forgotten Malfoy's existence until she rose from the table to depart.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" He asked, almost taken aback.

"Lunch." She tried to say without sounding too elated. He could never know what had made her so happy.

"Well, fine." He said almost sourly.

"Bye." Turning to leave, she briefly regretted her inability to decipher his emotions, but was immediately sidetracked when she nearly ran into Harry.

"Harry, you startled me!" She sad laughing, but immediately stopped when she saw his expression. She had been so distracted that she hadn't even felt his presence. Now that her attention was entirely focused on Harry, however, she could feel a mixture of angry confusion.

"So this is what you do while you're in the library? Spend time with _him?_" Harry nodded to where Malfoy was still sitting.

Ginny glanced around and to her dismay Malfoy was looking in their direction, pure amusement written all over his face. Her blood began to boil and she massaged her temples briefly before responding. "No, Harry. It was just a coincidence that we were both—"

"Sitting at the same table?"

"No, I—how long were you standing there?" It occurred to her that he must have been watching them for quite a few minutes. And that it was quite possible that Malfoy saw him, and kept it up to further irritate Harry.

"Does it matter?"

"No, I suppose it doesn't but if you were standing any closer you would have realized that Malfoy was just proving that his sole purpose in life is to infuriate everyone who crosses his path." She shot Malfoy daggers, and then turned her attention back to Harry.

"Don't let her fool you Potter; I was sitting at this table first and she voluntarily joined me." Malfoy advanced towards them.

"Well, I wanted to inquire as to why he _always _happened to be in the library while Hermione and I are here." Although she never got around to explicitly asking that particular question, this was still true.

Malfoy snorted, "You and that Mudblood don't _own_ this library, Weasley. Did you ever consider that it was simply a coincidence that I happened to be here whenever you were? I never even noticed that you were here until you _insisted _on sitting at my table this afternoon."

Ginny balled up her fists, "That's a lie and you know it, Malfoy."

"As pleasant as this is for me, I've got places to be, so carry on with your lover's quarrel." He said, plainly ignoring her accusation, gathered his belongings, and strutted out into the corridor.

"Harry you don't honestly believe him do you?"

"Well, you haven't been completely honest with me since we've returned to Hogwarts, so what do you expect me to believe?" He averted his gaze to his shoes.

"Harry, please listen to me; there _is _a reason I sat next to him, I just couldn't say it while he was still here." She pleaded.

"Save it, Ginny. I have to go." Without meeting her gaze, he exited the library.

She followed him out, hoping that he would be heading to the Great Hall and that maybe on the way she could try to explain, but to her dismay he went in the opposite direction, toward Gryffindor Tower. Following him was an option, of course, but despite this setback with Harry, she was still eager to share her discovery with Hermione.

~*~

A few minutes later, Ginny and Hermione were safely in the Room of Requirement, so that their conversation was completely private. Ginny presented Hermione with the square of parchment; as Hermione read Ginny waited impatiently for her reaction.

The older girl's eyes widened she beamed. "Ginny! You've done it! You've finally found something!"

Ginny returned the smile, "But it's from that book…the one by Celestia Henrey."

Hermione nodded, clearly understanding Ginny's plight. "We'll find out who she is. You know, it _can't_ be a coincidence that the woman in this passage was an Empath, Ginny. It makes perfect sense as to why _you _were having those dreams about Sirius. And that name Selene Cytheria, why does it sound so familiar?" She was speaking with rapid excitement, and it lifted Ginny's spirits ever-so-slightly.

"She wrote the book that Dumbledore gave me about Empathetic magic." Ginny said almost distractedly; she felt like she was missing something very crucial.

"Maybe she wrote other books. We'll have to look into it. Ginny, what's wrong? You don't seem nearly as thrilled as you _should _be. This is a great step forward!"

Ginny sighed heavily, "Remember how Malfoy was always in the Library at the same time as us?"

Hermione nodded for her to continue. Ginny hastily explained her encounter with Malfoy and then began to clarify her real reason for sitting with him. "Hermione it's so strange; I can't feel what he's feeling. He's the only person that has had…such an absence of an effect on me."

Hermione looked thoughtful. "And Harry didn't give you the opportunity to explain that detail?"

Ginny shook her head. "It doesn't really help that I've barely spent any time with him since we begun patching things up…and there was that kiss."

Her friend's eyes widened, "You never told me about that!"

"It was the night Wormtail was captured, so we were very preoccupied after that. He might not even remember."

Hermione looked at her shrewdly, "Don't be ridiculous, Ginny. Harry will come around; he's just having a really rough time coping with _really _saying goodbye to Sirius."

"Which is _absurd_ considering what we're doing…if I could just tell him, then this whole situation would be a lot bloody easier." Ginny said fervently.

"Ginny..." Hermione began, warningly.

"_I know_, Hermione. _I know._ I'm just sick of keeping secrets from him. He doesn't trust me anymore."

"You'll be able to tell him _very_ soon, at this rate." The older girl reminded, smiling. Ginny returned the smile automatically. The mere thought of how close they were brightened her mood.

Returning the conversation to Malfoy, Hermione continued, "He asked you about Occlumency?"

"Yes, but I haven't got a clue why. Then again, my mind is so hazy right now that I can't think straight. But now that we've found something, I've got to go to Dumbledore to arrange our trip to the Ministry."

Hermione's aura changed from excitement to one of complete disapproval in the matter of seconds. Ginny could imagine how often Ron and Harry would have had to feel this in the past six years, if they possessed her gift; she would have laughed on any other day but today.

Ginny looked at her wearily, "Hermione, what's wrong?"

"Don't get me wrong Ginny, this discovery is amazing, and you _should _tell Dumbledore but I don't think we should make any…plans yet. It isn't necessarily safe."

"I don't--"

"Go rest. I'll read up on Selene Cytheria and search for anything referencing Celestia Henrey." Hermione said with finality.

Sighing, Ginny nodded. "I won't really be able to rest; I dream about that veil every time my eyes close."

~*~

(_About one week later_)

Remus took a deep breath as he stared at his reflection in the mirror. Today was Sirius' memorial service; he was going to say his final goodbye to his best friend. Straightening his robes one last time, he turned away from the mirror. He made his way down to the parlor where Dora was waiting for him.

"Ready?" She said holding out her hand tentatively.

"Ready as I'll ever be." He murmured.

"Remus, don't act so glum…have a little faith." She said this with such conviction, that he had to remind himself that there was nothing to have faith in.

"Please don't start this again, especially tonight." Dora's faith in Ginny was astoundingly different from Remus'. Upon hearing about the latest discovery, Dora wanted to celebrate, while Remus simply pretended that he didn't hear a word that Dumbledore was saying. He had come just a few nights before, to share the news that Ginny had found a short passage regarding the veil. The passage sounded too good to be true, in Remus' opinion.

"When did you become so cynical?" Dora had asked him countless times in the preceding days. The truth was he had only stopped being cynical when Sirius had returned the first time; so naturally, it was quite easy to resume that exterior.

"Sorry," she said, bringing him back to the present. "I promise that I'll be properly mournful tonight." As if to prove this, she changed her hair from the light brown she had chosen, to a deep black, matching perfectly with her robes.

He smiled half heartedly in spite of himself. She squeezed his hand, and they set off into Grimmauld square and apparated to Hogsmeade.

They walked up to Hogwarts silently. Memories flooded him as he reflexively let his eyes scan the grounds; the Whomping Willow was swaying menacingly nearby. He laughed before he even realized it.

"What's so funny?" Dora inquired, taken aback.

"I remember being terrified of that thing the first time I saw it. Only to find out that I'd have to go _under _it every month. Before they found out that I was a werewolf, Sirius had been trying to uncover my secret and happened to see Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey sneak me under it. He had some _very _wildideas of what was going on." He shook his head at the memory, still laughing.

They reached the doors, where Filch and Hagrid were standing guard. "'Lo Remus, Tonks." Hagrid said solemnly. Remus could tell that he was avoiding eye contact with him; and he didn't protest because he didn't want to assist in causing a very emotional scene with Hagrid at the entrance to the castle.

They entered the Great Hall, where the memorial was taking place to see that the tables had been pushed against the walls, and the room was filled with rows of chairs, facing where the staff table usually stood. Today, there was an array of picture all of Sirius and various other people. There was also a podium in the center, clearly for whoever wanted to say a few parting words. Instead of the usual house color decorations, there were mostly black tapestries in their place, with the exception of one Gryffindor banner. Not many people had arrived yet since the actual service wasn't beginning for another thirty minutes. Ron and Hermione were there, along with a few of their friends, including Cassidy Lestrange. Alix was talking to her sister, Victoria and the rest of the staff was there as well. To Remus' great surprise, so was Severus; he was sitting alone in a middle row of chairs, looking less than thrilled to be there.

Harry and Ginny were off in a corner talking in hushed tones, but it was clear that they weren't having a pleasant conversation.

Remus approached the small group of his former students, greeting them. "What's going on with Harry and Ginny?" If he didn't know Ginny better, he would have suspected that she had decided to tell him about her fantasy of rescuing Sirius. But he _did _know that Ginny was much brighter than that, and more importantly that she cared about Harry's feelings above anything else.

"It's a bit of a long story." Hermione began.

"A _ridiculous _story." Ron put in.

"Are they…dating?" Remus interjected.

"We don't know." Ron, Hermione, Cassidy, Neville, and Luna chorused, sighing heavily.

Remus chuckled, "I won't ask any more questions." He glanced up at the pair that resembled Lily and James so much from this distance. Harry began to walk away from her, and Ginny's pleading eyes followed after him. She appeared worn out; very much like Remus looked after the full moon. When Harry joined their group, Ginny resigned herself to a seat in a middle row.

"Hello, Harry. Everything all right?" He didn't want to pry too much, but he left the question as open ended as possible to remind Harry that he was _always _here to talk.

"As much as it ever is." He shrugged.

Remus was about to reply but was interrupted by a pitter patter of feet running through the Great Hall.

"MUMMY!" Came a little girl's voice, and she continued to run until she was caught by Alix's open arms.

"Professor Callaway has a daughter?" Harry interjected.

"Yes, and it came as quite a shock to us a few months ago, as well." Chuckled a man who looked vaguely familiar to Remus. But it was the sour looking woman clutching his arm that brought it back to him; they were Alix's parents.

"Hello, Mr. Callaway, Mrs. Callaway." Remus shook Alix's father's hand. He briefly introduced his former students to their new Defense professor's parents. Mr. Callaway smiled sadly at Harry, and expressed his sympathy for the loss of Sirius.

"Remus, it's good to see you!" Mr. Callaway added, while Mrs. Callaway continued to look sour. "Aurora's been staying with us for the past few weeks, while Alix…er, well you know." His expression saddened as he observed his daughters and granddaughter a few feet ahead of him.

Mrs. Callaway sniffed, "Yes, well Alixandra can properly move on with her life now that Black has…passed." It was clear that her choice of words was an attempt at being polite, but Remus wasn't fooled. It had been quite clear throughout the years that Alix's mother had a particular disdain for Sirius that none of them ever fully understood. For a moment, Remus allowed himself to imagine Ginny being successful and Sirius returning from beyond the veil; Alix's mother's reaction would be priceless. He bit back a grin, and pushed away the image before he could become too convinced that it was indeed possible.

"Let's go say hello to our lovely daughters, shall we darling?" Mr. Callaway hastily directed his wife in Alix and Victoria's direction.

"She was positively _delightful!"_ Dora said when they were out of earshot.

Remus snorted, "You have no idea. We've always wondered what Mr. Callaway sees in her."

"Professor Callaway and Sirius were…?" Harry began, looking in Alix's direction.

Smirking, Remus said, "Oh yes. They were…one of a kind."

The Great Hall began to fill with people; more than Remus imagined. "We better take our seats." Remus suggested to the group. They all nodded and headed to the front of the hall.

"Do you recognize most of these people?" Dora said, as they sat down in the first row.

Remus shook his head, "I'm sure most of them went to Hogwarts with us, but I definitely can't put a name to most of their faces."

"There's an alarming amount of women here." She observed impishly.

Remus snorted, "Sirius'...er, conquests, I'm sure." He felt a sharp smack upside his head, and turned to see Alix trying to look innocent behind him. Aurora sat on her lap, giggling into her hands. To his left, Ron guffawed, while Harry chuckled briefly, much to Remus' surprise.

"Er…sorry, Alix. But you _know _it's true. He had a new girl every day, before you."

Alix rolled her eyes, but nodded with a small grin.

"Well I suppose that's why Professor Callaway's mother didn't approve of Sirius. Any mother wouldn't--" Hermione stated.

Harry scowled, but Ron replied first, "Oh come off it, Hermione. He was a teenage boy."

Hermione looked as if she could continue the argument, but Alix cut in. "She didn't know about that, but I suppose…she had her reasons."

The chatter throughout the hall began to die down, as Dumbledore took his place at the podium.

Clearing his throat he began, "Good evening. As you all know, we have gathered here to honor the life of Sirius Black. He was a loyal friend, and dedicated godfather, always putting the lives of others before his own, even until his very last moments. Sirius was a very memorable student at Hogwarts, being a proud mischief maker bringing chaotic amusement to every situation he encountered." A collective laughter sounded throughout the hall.

Dumbledore's tone sobered, "Many may consider his life to be a tragedy; spending twelve long years in Azkaban after being wrongfully accused of the betrayal of his dearest friends, and the murder of so many innocent men and women, while the real perpetrator ran free. However, we must make an example of this event, by always being loyal and true to our loved ones, just as Sirius had done." Dumbledore paused a moment, surveying them all with his penetrating blue eyes.

"Now, I would like to invite Remus Lupin, Harry Potter, and Alixandra Callaway up to the dais to assist me in leading the toast." Remus was surprised at this request, but obeyed. He caught Harry's eye as they took their place next to Dumbledore. He looked just as surprised, but his eyes shined in appreciation. Remus squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. Dumbledore handed them each a glass of amber liquid. The strong scent of Firewhiskey entered his senses, and he smiled in spite of himself; Sirius would most definitely approve.

Dumbledore was now pointing his wand at one of the tables against the wall, which contained an enormous number of small glasses filled with the same amber liquid; he waved it in the direction of the men and women sitting in the hall. Each glass floated in front of every person until they grasped it in their hands. Many people looked astonished as this exchange occurred.

"Now that we're all in possession of a glass, I invite you all to stand, and join us in a toast." Everyone stood simultaneously. Dumbledore raised his glass, as everyone followed suite in unison. "To Sirius Black, may he continue to be up to no good wherever he may be."

"TO SIRIUS!" The hall chorused as they threw back the Firewhiskey. Squeezing his eyes shut, Remus bowed his head, and silently said goodbye to his old friend.

Dumbledore cleared his throat once more, "Feel free to stay as long as you'd like; reminisce with each other. A feast will be available in a few short minutes, as well as an abundance of Firewhiskey. Merlin knows, Sirius would advocate the excessive consumption in his honor." The population in the hall erupted into laughter once more before they dispersed to get food and mingle.

"I found that _very _appropriate." Dora said, approaching the dais, eyes bright, but grinning nonetheless. "Well done, Headmaster."

Dumbledore winked, "I thought so. I think I'll go take my own advice—in memory of Sirius, of course. Remus, care to join me?"

Remus couldn't help but laugh, "Yes, of course."

~*~

Ginny idly wandered away from her parents to view the display of pictures. As she gazed at the many younger faces of Sirius, Remus, Professor Callaway, Lily and James Potter, as well as many other people she did not recognize, she allowed herself to think of Sirius returning in a short period of time. She giggled at the thought of telling him that Dumbledore more or less told everyone to get sloshed on his behalf.

She turned to see Professor Callaway and a little girl, who must have been her daughter, viewing the photographs as well. If they weren't identical in appearance, Ginny could easily tell they were mother and daughter by the bond that she could feel between them. She smiled as her professor pointed to pictures, and her daughter giggled and said things like, "That was _you_, Mummy?!"

"Hey Gin," Fred and George approached her, each carrying full glasses of Firewhiskey. The two of them were dressed appropriately for once, both in jet black dress robes.

"You know, I thought you might dress a little more obnoxiously and pass it off as a tribute to Sirius."

Fred grinned, "Actually little sister, we were going to. But mum showed up at our flat to prevent exactly that from happening."

"Anyway," George began, "what are you doing over here all alone?"

"Just looking at the pictures." Ginny replied nonchalantly.

"What my dear twin was _trying _to say was _why _is it that you and Harrykins haven't even _looked _at each other this evening?" Fred said bluntly.

"Yeah, because you know, _obviously _he's emotional right now. And isn't that your thing?"

"George, we're not supposed to mention that _Harry _is her thing---"

George chuckled, "That's not what I meant, Fred, but _wonderful_ point, nonetheless."

Ginny rolled her eyes, "I don't have the energy to fight with you right now, but just know that I _owe _you very, _very¸_ nasty Bat Bogey Hexes in the near future." She stalked away from them, joining Remus, Tonks, Harry, Ron and Hermione. After Fred and George's comments, she wanted to at least make an attempt at proving them wrong.

"Hey, Ginny!" Tonks greeted her.

She smiled genially at Tonks, and then to Remus. He returned the smile, but she could still feel the slight coldness towards her. She chanced a glance at Harry, who was pointedly looking at his shoes. His aura had darkened at her arrival; not that it was merry to begin with.

"So go on Remus, you were telling us about when you all came up with the map." Ron prompted.

"Well, once we had it all figured out, we wanted to sign it but we didn't want to use our _real_ names."

"This was before they became animagi?" Harry questioned, keeping his gaze focused on Remus.

Remus nodded, "Yes. The plans for the map originated in our third year, and they hadn't become animagi until fifth. They already called me Moony for quite a while before they had their own nicknames, so that wasn't really an option at the time. But we toyed with many ideas, and Sirius suggested we use anagrams of our own names. We were quite close to doing that, until James insisted that he had a better idea. But he wouldn't share it with me until they actually accomplished the feat of becoming animagi. We put the finishing touches on the map right after they had successfully transformed the first time."

He was speaking so fondly of his memories but Ginny felt the pain that radiated almost as much as the joy from sharing this with his former students.

Hermione's aura burst with excitement. "Anagrams…"

"GINNY! That's it!" She bounced on the balls of her feet.

"What…?" Ron looked puzzled

Harry looked back and forth between Hermione and Ginny. If Ginny wasn't so confused regarding what Hermione was on about, she might have reveled in the fact that Harry made eye contact with her.

"What are you talking about, Hermione?" Ginny fixed the older girl with a steely gaze.

"I need to go to the library." Hermione stated with conviction, and rushed out of the Great Hall without another word.

"Why is it that she always has to go to the library at the most bizarre times?" Ron said amusedly, glancing after Hermione.

"I should--"

"Not you too!" Ron said in disbelief.

Ginny didn't stay to defend herself, she rushed off after Hermione. She caught up with her outside of the library, holding a stitch in her side, "Hermione, what are you on about?"

"Celestia Henrey is an _anagram for _Selene Cytheria!" Hermione was bouncing again.

Ginny's jaw dropped. "How did you…? Did you do that in your _head?_"

"Well yes, but that's why I rushed off here. I need a quill and parchment to be certain." Hermione continued to talk at the speed of light as she walked into the library. "I knew we were missing _some_ connection between them, but I couldn't place my finger on it until Remus mentioned anagrams! Who would have thought it was something this simple!" She approached Madam Pince's desk and took a sheet of parchment from a stack, and a quill from a cup upon the desk.

She quickly scrawled the name _Selene Cytheria_ and rearranged the letters to form _Celestia Henrey_.

Ginny's eyes met Hermione's. "So this means…that, well…that passage is definitely _real _isn't it?"

"Yes, Ginny. I really believe that it is."

"Dumbledore…we've got to tell him, _right _now." Ginny walked with purpose out of the library and back towards the Great Hall.

"We have to wait until the ceremony is over, Ginny…if Harry suspects anything…." Hermione grabbed her arm

"Well who _cares_ at this point! He'll know soon enough!" She threw her hands up in the air exasperatedly. For the second time in the last few weeks, she had considered forgetting all pretenses and just letting Harry in on the secret. She knew this would be foolish, but it was so much easier than continuing to keep this a secret.

"But if it doesn't work--"

"It _will _work, Hermione."

"We don't know that, Ginny. You promised you would wait."

Ginny nodded. "We'll wait."

They returned to the Great Hall, and much to Ginny's dismay, Ron accosted them as soon as they entered. "That was awfully quick. What was in the library?"

"Nothing actually, I just needed to check something. Turns out I was wrong." Hermione was quite calm, though Ginny could tell that her nerves were just as jittery as her own. Ginny wished she could act as calm at the moment, but she knew it was a lost cause.

Finally, in what felt like years, people started to say their goodbyes and file out. As the room emptied, Ginny scanned the room. She spotted Harry talking to Cassidy and Neville, and deemed it safe to seek out Dumbledore. He was talking to Professor McGonagall and a few other teachers. When she approached he excused himself from them. "Hello Miss Weasley, how are you?"

"Great actually; Hermione just figured out a missing piece to our puzzle." She handed the piece of parchment bearing the anagram to the Headmaster.

He nodded and his mouth turned into a small smile, "Ah, something that was right in front of us all along! Well done, to both you and Miss Granger."

"Thanks," Ginny said, really smiling for the first time in a week. "Professor, er…not to be rude or anything, but when can we go to the Ministry?"

Dumbledore considered her over his half moon spectacles for a moment, "We'll have to make arrangements with a guard of Aurors and Order members, so I suppose whenever a sufficient number of them are available."

"Can't we go tonight? I mean, because those people are _here _now. I just feel that if we wait any longer we might miss our chance…" Ginny was speaking rapidly and wringing her hands again.

"Miss Weasley…"

"Professor, _please_. I have trouble sleeping because of this. And now that we have finally found reassurance that this _can _be done, we _have _to do something about it immediately." She pushed down the panic of addressing her professor in such an informal way, as she waited for his response.

Dumbledore smiled wisely and Ginny let out the breath she was holding. He nodded, "Very well. I'll tell Nymphadora, Kingsley, Remus, and Alastor to meet us in my office just as soon as the rest of our guests leave."

Ginny smiled broadly at her Headmaster. She could hug him, but she knew that would be wildly inappropriate so she conceded with saying, "Thank you, Professor. This means a great deal to me." She grinned at him one more time before rushing off to share the good news with Hermione.

~*~

A/N: Thanks Tracie, for editing, as always! I'm incredibly sorry that this chapter took this long, but life is hectic. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. The real excitement is about to begin, so please stay tuned! If anyone has spare time, and would like to draw your interpretation of my original, as well as the canon characters I would LOVE to see what you come up with. For anyone willing to do this, you can send them directly to my email, which is in my profile. If any of you decide to do this, I'll email you a piece of the next chapter early, just as soon as I get it written! Don't forget to review; I'll see you all soon. :)


	16. Beyond the Veil

The Guardians

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these wonderful characters; they all belong to the magnificent J.K. Rowling. (Except for the original few that you'll be able to recognize yourselves!)

**Chapter 16: Beyond the Veil**

About an hour later, Ginny, Hermione, Remus, Tonks, Kingsley and Mad-Eye were congregated in Dumbledore's office. The Headmaster was seated behind his desk, the rest of the occupants were sitting or standing in various places on the opposite side. Ginny was pacing not only due to her desire to get to the Ministry quickly, but also because of the myriad of emotions emanating from everyone in the room. Dumbledore had yet to begin the impending discussion, but Ginny could already feel that the rest of them knew what was coming. Most of them were thrilled, or relieved, but one person's emotions stood out above them all. Remus was so conflicted that Ginny feared that her former professor might implode. She carefully avoided his gaze, though she could feel his eyes following her pacing figure.

At long last, Dumbledore began to speak, "I'm sure you're all aware of the reason that I have asked you to assemble here." They nodded collectively, and he continued, "Miss Weasley is adamant that we depart for the ministry at once, for fear--"

"And you're going to let a fifteen year old dictate your actions?" Remus cut in derisively. The tension surrounding him was expanding and making Ginny's head ache fiercely.

"_Remus!"_ Tonks hissed reprovingly.

Dumbledore didn't flinch, however. His blue eyes sparkled, which comforted Ginny slightly. "I am in agreement with Miss Weasley. We should act as soon as possible, just in case we are too late."

Remus looked as if he wanted to make another scathing remark, but he refrained. Dumbledore surveyed each of them in turn, "Are you all in favor of accompanying Miss Weasley, Miss Granger and myself to the Ministry tonight?"

Tonks nodded eagerly, while shooting Remus a meaningful glance; Remus crossed his arms and avoided all eye contact. Mad-Eye growled his assent and Kingsley voiced, "Of course, Albus."

"Excellent. Disillusion yourselves and gather at the Hogs Head; I will arrive there shortly." He stood from his chair, as if to dismiss them all.

"Shouldn't Ginny's parents be informed of where she's going and what she's volunteered to do? She _is _underage, after all," Remus put in.

Ginny groaned, "Remus, _please_. You know what they'll say! Can't you just give me a chance?"

"And lose another innocent life to that veil? I don't _think _so, Ginny. Think of what that would do to Harry!" Remus said heatedly.

"That's not fair! Don't you try to make me feel guilty!" Her voice was shaking now. She felt the tears rise to her eyes, but she wasn't sure if it was more due to her own emotions or the mixture of everyone else's.

"Maybe he's right though," Hermione began, worry evident in her tone, "…about telling your parents, I mean!" She quickly added, seeing the deadly stare Ginny was directing at her.

Ginny continued to glare at her, and then turned her gaze to Remus, "No, _maybe _Remus should just stay behind if he feels this way."

"Fine by me," he countered.

"But Sirius…he would want you there," Tonks began quietly. Truthfully, Ginny felt this way too, but at this point, if Remus was going to act like a child then they were much better off if he stayed behind.

"Don't start, Dora," he said venomously.

Dumbledore cut in before the conversation could take a worse turn, "I do have to agree with Remus on this one, Ginny."

She faced her headmaster and tried to search his emotions for an explanation, but to her amazement, she couldn't sense an aura of emotion around him. Just like Malfoy…but she pushed this thought aside for the time being to handle more pressing matters. "Professor…" she began, trying to mask the defeat she was beginning to feel.

He shook his head, signaling her to close her mouth. "I wish I thought of this before they departed, however, we'll contact them via floo and settle this matter." He turned to the flickering fireplace, grabbing a handful of powder from the pot beside it. The fire roared with green flames after he tossed the powder into the grate. "_The Burrow!"_ he bellowed, placing his head into the flames.

Ginny waited with baited breath. Dumbledore's words were muffled since he was facing away from them, but not two minutes later, he pulled his head from the flames. She was about to ask what happened, until her mother's head filled the fireplace displaying a very stern expression. Ginny bit her lip nervously.

"Ginevra, your father and I are _not _happy about this."

"But mum, its _important_…Sirius needs to come home. He's been there for _months_," she pleaded, never taking her eyes off her mother's face.

"It's _dangerous_, Ginny! Especially if you aren't even sure that it will work!" Her mother's eyes flitted to Remus, but to Ginny's relief he stayed quiet.

"I _am _sure it will work. Look mum, I'm not _asking _your permission. Professor Dumbledore and Remus just thought it would be best if we informed you of our plans." Her tone was resolute.

"You're underage! You can't make such hazardous decisions on your own."

She desperately wanted to point out that Ron made such decisions on quite a regular basis throughout the last six years, but she knew that this would incite further argument. "What does Dad have to say about this?"

"He agrees with me, of course!" She realized that her mother was on the verge of hysterics.

"Well, I'd like to talk to him for myself." Her father was more likely to see reason, no matter what the situation was.

Her mother disappeared from the fire, shooting Ginny one last disapproving stare, and was quickly replaced by her father. "Dad?"

"Ginny, what do you want me to say?" He looked tired.

"I _want _you to say that I have your approval," she said, determined to win the argument.

"The rest of you…are sure that this will work?" He scratched his balding head.

Everyone but Remus nodded, and Dumbledore responded, "I'm almost certain that this is a foolproof plan."

Remus snorted derisively. This did not go unnoticed by Arthur Weasley, "I already know how you feel Remus, and I respect your opinion. However, it seems that we are outnumbered."

Ginny looked at her father hopefully, "You mean that?"

"Yes. I trust your intuition…or whatever it is that governs your new power. Just be careful, Ginny."

She couldn't help it, tears welled in her eyes but this time she knew it was due to her own gratitude. "I will, Dad. Thank you."

"If anything…well, just know that your mother and I love you very much," he said, his voice shaking slightly. Ginny briefly wished that he were actually in the room so that she could throw her arms around him.

"I love you both," Ginny replied.

"Well, I suppose Molly and I will be waiting for all of you at Headquarters, then?"

"I think that would be best," Dumbledore agreed.

"See you soon," Arthur said, and with a _pop_ his head was gone from the fire.

"Now that we've settled that, I've got a few things to put in order here before we depart. I shall meet you in the Hog's Head in fifteen minutes. From there we will apparate to the visitors' entrance; I will take Ginny and Hermione by side-along apparition." Everyone except for Hermione and Ginny exited the headmaster's office. Remus had not said another word as he departed and Ginny wondered what he had decided to do.

"Do you think--" she began.

"I am almost certain he will be at the Hog's Head when we arrive. But before we join our friends, I must inform Professor McGonagall of our departure. I'll disillusion both of you and meet you back in the entrance hall. Be very cautious as to not be seen by _anybody_."

Dumbledore moved towards them and cast the disillusionment charm, and Ginny felt the familiar sensation that something cold was trickling down her head, to her back. She looked down at her body and sure enough, she blended in with her surroundings as if she were a chameleon. Eventually her eyes focused and she was able to make out Hermione's shape not too far from her. The pair made their way to the entrance hall to wait. Five minutes later, Dumbledore joined them and they set off across the grounds to the Hog's Head.

Once again, it took a few minutes to focus on the camouflaged forms of the rest of their party who were standing near the entrance of the dingy pub. Dumbledore disillusioned himself, and said in barely more than a whisper, "Apparate to the visitors' entrance. Hermione, Ginny, take hold of my arms, I will transport you by side-along apparition." Ginny grasped the scarcely visible arm to her left, and she only assumed that Hermione did the same, because within seconds she felt pressure surrounding her body quite strongly, as if she were being pulled through a very narrow tube; as quickly as it begun, it was over, and she was standing still once more.

Ginny recognized the London street and saw the familiar rundown red phone booth a few feet away. They closed the space between themselves and the phone booth, and the seemingly invisible group crowded inside. The receiver lifted as if on its own accord, and the numbers "62442" were dialed. A serene woman's voice filled the booth, just as Ginny remembered from the previous June. Dumbledore recited each of their names in turn, and stated that they were there for a rescue mission.

Somewhere to Ginny's left came Hermione's voice, "There's irony for you…" Ginny snorted. The buttons were dispensed and everyone reached, grabbing the one designated for them. The phone booth began to move underground; Ginny's heart rate sped up excitedly; _this was it._

As the lift continued to move downwards, Dumbledore spoke, "It is best if we remain disillusioned until we are safely inside the chamber that contains the veil, in case we encounter any obstacles."

Ginny hoped that this advisement was based on speculation. She remembered that there was no security present on their last trip to the Department of Mysteries, but was sure that this was because the Death Eaters had taken care of that particular obstacle before she and her friends had arrived. If the Ministry had any brains at all, they should have stepped up security after that last breech. However, Ginny reflected, Fudge didn't seem too able the last time she had seen him.

The phone booth stopped moving and opened to the Atrium. Everything that had been destroyed on her previous visit was restored to its original grandeur, including the Fountain of Magical Brethren. There were two security wizards, clearly bored, facing each other, a pile of cards floating between them, each holding a few spread out in their hand. One glanced their way, maybe at their footsteps, but looked back at his hand of cards after he clearly didn't see anything. An instant later the pair of them were looking at each other confused and it was apparent that someone (probably Dumbledore) had confunded them. They proceeded towards the lifts and once they all piled in, Dumbledore pressed the number nine button, and they descended noisily to the Department of Mysteries.

When the lift finally came to a stop, once again, Ginny took notice of how quickly her heart was racing. They silently made their way to the circular room, and within a few moments Dumbledore had successfully located the correct door leading to the death chamber. Within seconds the group materialized around her, as they removed their disillusionment charms. She felt the trickling feeling recede, this time traveling up her body, and she too was visible. Much to her relief, Remus stood stonily next to Tonks; he had decided to come after all.

"Here we are." Dumbledore said gravely.

Ginny could hear the faint whispers coming from beyond the veil, but she ignored them presently because she suddenly became very aware that everyone's eyes were fixed on her. She bit her lip, and her heart raced a thousand times faster than before; her hands were shaking. She clutched her wand like a lifeline, and nodded at her companions and stated as steadily as her voice would allow, "Well, I'll see you all in a little while, then." She glanced at Remus one last time; she felt his nerves buzzing around his very being. She smiled at him uncertainly and he nodded with conviction; this small gesture made her feel worlds better about what was about to occur. Turning away from the rest of her companions, she faced the ominous black veil.

Ginny stopped a few feet in front of it; the whispers became louder and she became entranced by the lulling sound of the thousands of voices calling to her. The veil fluttered before her; she reached out as if it were her purpose, and lightly touched the thin fabric. She began reciting an incantation as if she had always known the words, "_Adnecto intermundia de animus ac exanimus."_ Before she knew it, she was surrounded by a blinding white light, but she refrained from shielding her eyes. Instead she walked, mechanically, through to the other side, unsure what she would find.

Soon, the bright light faded, and she was able to see once more. Ginny gasped at the sight before her; it was the most beautiful place that she had ever encountered. She faced an open meadow, trees sporadically placed throughout. The sky was marvelously clear with millions of tiny stars sparkling; the moon, nearly full, shined luminously above. She turned around, reflexively and her heart dropped; the meadow stretched behind her, farther than she could see. There was no sign of the veil, or any portal back to the world of the living. But she pushed this thought from her mind for the time being. She was sure once she found Sirius that they would be able to find the way back home.

Ginny strode forward, following the sound of a stream in the distance. She had no idea where she was going, and found it almost eerie that she had not encountered another creature, alive or dead. "Sirius?" She called, but heard no response. She continued walking, passing more and more beautiful scenery. She became increasingly worried that she was mistaken to come here. Finally she heard a rustle coming from nearby shrubbery; automatically she gripped her wand in her right hand, searching her surroundings for any sign of threat.

A man chuckled behind her, "That won't do you any good here."

Spinning around, Ginny faced a tall, beautiful man with golden hair and tanned skin. He was dressed in simple, thin, white robes, but he gave off an air of royalty.

"Another live one, Tartarus?" Came the musical voice of a woman from behind her. Ginny glanced over her shoulder to see a gorgeous woman, with wavy, mahogany hair. She too was wearing the simple white robes, yet hers more feminine, accentuating her beauty.

"I'm afraid so, Elysium. It's such a pity," he responded shaking his head, not looking as if he felt any pity at all.

"Another…so you might be able to help me," Ginny began confidently.

"Technically, that _is _what we're here for," replied Tartarus, sounding quite bored.

"Don't mind my brother," Elysium added, linking arms with Ginny. "How may we be of service to you?"

Ginny saw Tartarus roll his eyes. "Well, I'm looking for a friend of mine. Sirius Black…"

"_Oh! _You're _the one_!" Elysium bounced on her heels, excitedly.

"I would really appreciate it if you would explain what it is you're talking about. I don't have time to be speaking in code." Ginny tried to keep the exasperation out of her tone, but knew it was useless. It was clear that Elysium meant well, but Ginny was anxious to get to Sirius.

Elysium, clearly unruffled by Ginny's short temper, smiled fondly at her, "We've been informed of your impending arrival, but I never expected it to be this soon!"

"Or for _the one _to be…a child." Tartarus looked her up and down contemptuously. Ginny scowled back at him. He may have looked like a god, but this man knew nothing about her and the things that she had gone through in her fifteen years of life.

"Who _are _you anyway? Are you supposed to be _gods _or something, because--" Ginny inquired.

Elysium laughed musically, but it was Tartarus' mocking tone that replied, "In a manner of speaking, _yes_. But our story isn't to be told to mere mortals."

"I suppose we should formally introduce ourselves," Elysium cut in, shooting her brother a reproachful stare. "I am Elysium, and this is my brother Tartarus; we are the Guardians of this realm. I am charged with escorting the innately good souls to their next destination, and Tartarus is responsible for doing the same for the unfortunate souls. This is our home; Asphodel Meadows. While the souls are awaiting judgment they remain here." She gestured to their surroundings fondly.

"In the rare case that you are still alive, as _you_ are, you remain here as well." Tartarus added, "But it seems that if you are _truly_ the one that has been prophesized about, that is to say, an _Empath,_ then you and your friend will be able to leave quite shortly. So the question is, _are _you an Empath?"

"Yes, I am." She replied steadily.

"We shall see." Tartarus smiled almost menacingly.

Elysium rolled her eyes, "Don't listen to him, he enjoys seeing _living_ humans stranded here. You're going to be fine. What was your name?"

"Ginny." Ginny didn't voice her fears, but she _was _fretting; what if they _didn't _make it out safely?

"Well, Ginny, let's go inform Sirius that his knight in shining armor has arrived at last, shall we?" Tartarus added sarcastically. Ginny couldn't sense his emotions, but she could tell that he was sour about letting _two _souls go free. She hoped that Elysium was correct and that she and Sirius would be perfectly safe.

The three of them set off in the direction that Ginny had been heading when she encountered the god-like pair.

"Why haven't I come across any er…souls since I've arrived here?" She was curious about this since she crossed into their realm. It seemed only fitting that she would encounter souls roaming around, but perhaps she was wrong.

"They are instructed to leave any new comers alone. As not to frighten them; especially living beings, such as yourself." Elysium explained.

"But I was walking for quite a while before I encountered you two. What if I met a new soul that hadn't been informed of this?" It seemed almost illogical to Ginny.

"Well you're lucky you didn't." Tartarus began, shooting his sister a reproving glance, "One of us is supposed to report to the portal when we are informed of a soul…or _being_ arriving by means of such portals, but I was tending to some important business while Elysium was off _gallivanting_ with your friend."

"You were with Sirius?" Relief washed over Ginny. This was the first solid piece of evidence that either of them had given her that he was alive and well.

Elysium flushed, "Yes…"

Ginny giggled at the blush creeping into Elysium's complexion. At least Sirius seemed to be enjoying his stay in Asphodel Meadows.

They were approaching a vast lake; it reminded Ginny of the one at Hogwarts. There were mermaids near the shore, surrounding a boulder with a man perched on top of it. Ginny noticed that they were much more attractive looking than the merpeople that she was accustomed to seeing. There were more people—no, _souls—_sitting in various places in the distance, some close to the lake, others right at the shore. It was clear to Ginny that they were souls because their auras glowed in a much different light than that of a living being. She was more accustomed to the golden brightness of a living aura; the souls possessed a silvery white aura, almost like a patronus. The man on the rock's aura pulsed with that familiar golden light.

And even if she couldn't distinguish between the auras there was no mistaking the identity of the man perched on the boulder, as they edged closer. Sirius threw back his head and laughed his familiar bark-like laugh, causing Ginny to smile widely, and cover her mouth in disbelief; it was really him. She sped up, and called out, "Sirius!"

He turned in their direction at the sound of her voice, narrowing his eyes interestedly. He quickly transformed into the bearlike black dog, leaping into the water, swimming the remainder of the way to the shore. Hopping on land, he shook his fur out, and transformed back into a man.

His eyes widened in disbelief, and concern. "_Ginny_?! What the bloody hell are you _doing_ here?!"

"Rescuing you," she replied simply, grinning through the tears that had formed in her eyes.

"I—what…_really?_" He looked incredulous.

"I thought you said that you knew I was coming?" Ginny turned to face Elysium and Tartarus once more. If this were true, shouldn't they have told Sirius?

"We did, but we weren't allowed to tell _him_. We _do_ have _rules_, you know." Tartarus stated in his grim tone. He shot Elysium a nasty glance and Ginny looked between the two of them quizzically, but Sirius spoke before she had a chance to question them.

"But how…I've been here for…well a long time, and they told me that it was impossible for a 'simple human' to leave on their own accord." Sirius said the words 'simple human' with a hint of scorn.

Ginny grinned importantly, "_Well, _I'm not exactly a _simple_ human."

Sirius raised an eyebrow skeptically, "Then what are you?"

"An Empath."

Sirius' jaw dropped, "You're having me on."

"Sirius, I wouldn't be here otherwise. Do you think I'd go anywhere near that veil if I was not entirely certain that I'd make it back safely?" She purposely left out her previous fears and uncertainty.

"I suppose not…wow, this is so unexpected." He ran a hand through his long black hair, " But,_Merlin, _Ginny. This is _incredible._" His grey eyes were bright with excitement. "How's Harry? And Remus…and your family?" He was speaking rapidly and she could feel his emotions twisting with so many different feelings that she was unable to clearly decipher them.

"Everyone's…well they'll be great once you come home." Ginny said, her own emotions becoming just as overwhelming as his.

"Then what are we waiting for, let's go home." He grasped her hand and began to walk in the direction that they had come, without looking back at the lake. Ginny looked at her two counterparts. Tartarus nodded, and Elysium soon followed suit, but Ginny couldn't help noticing how miserable she looked.

The quartet was relatively silent throughout their journey; Ginny had a million questions buzzing in her head, yet somehow she knew to hold off until they safely returned to the opposite side of the veil. They walked for a while, until their godly leaders stopped, signaling that they had made it to the portal.

She tugged on Sirius' hand and nodded at Elysium. He sighed, "Don't be sad Elyse…you made my time here quite enjoyable, considering the circumstances. But…you knew this day would come, didn't you?"

She nodded, tears in her eyes. "Take care of yourself."

"I will." Sirius promised.

"Thank you." Ginny said to both of them. Elysium hugged both Ginny and Sirius, while Tartarus nodded with a little less contempt in his movements.

"Be warned though," Tartarus exclaimed gravely, "You are not to breathe a word of the secrets of this realm, for if you do, you will face dire consequences." Ginny shivered at his words. But Tartarus' eyes were trained on Sirius, who nodded solemnly.

A shimmering force-field appeared before them and Ginny and Sirius locked hands once more, making their way back to the world of the living. Again, the blinding white light filled their vision; a moment later it cleared to reveal that they had safely returned to the Department of Mysteries. A series of gasps and exclamations filled the air as Ginny and Sirius made their way across the room. Ginny felt each aura burst with a mixture of disbelief and happiness.

Hermione and Tonks simultaneously burst into tears and hugged each other, causing Ginny to laugh, but she realized that she too was crying freely. She had finally accomplished what she had been obsessing over for months. It had _actually_ paid off. Dumbledore smiled proudly at her, and shook Sirius' hand, welcoming him back. Moody's gnarled face was grinning, and Kingsley's booming voice laughed in amazement.

Remus stood still, tears falling from his eyes. Sirius paused in front of him for a second, and the two finally embraced. "I can't…Sirius, I didn't…."

"Oh come on Moony, I _always _come back don't I?" Sirius said half laughing, half choking back tears.

"Yeah…I suppose you do." Remus chuckled, wiping at his eyes.

Remus turned to Ginny, hugging her tightly. "I'm so sorry that I didn't --"

"Don't, Remus…." Ginny smiled, while sobbing. The emotions that filled the room overcame her and she did not bother to fight it.

Sirius was looking around the room with concern, "Where's Harry?"

"He's' at school, Sirius. We weren't certain how successful this plan would be, so we thought it best to keep him in the dark until we found you."

He nodded in understanding, and added hopefully, "Can we go get him?"

Ginny laughed, and looked to Dumbledore. His eyes were twinkling with amusement, "I don't see why not."

"Well then let's go to Hogwarts!"

"I don't think--"

"Sirius you're supposed to be--"

Everyone in the room responded with various forms of this at once, and Sirius looked crestfallen. Ginny expected him to get angry about the implications of him having to lay low once more.

However, much to everyone's astonishment he replied calmly looking at each of them, "How long _has_ it been?" It became apparent that he probably had no concept of time passing during his stay in Asphodel Meadows.

"It's October, so about four months…actually we just came from your funeral." Remus replied wryly, grinning ever so slightly.

"_Memorial!_ Don't be so morbid, Remus!" Hermione scolded, wiping her puffy eyes.

Sirius' eyes widened. "But if you planned on rescuing me….?" He looked bewildered.

"We have much to fill you in on. And for now I think it is best, for the sake of others, as well as yourself, that you return to Headquarters." Sirius looked as if he wanted to say something but Dumbledore continued without repose, "And I will return to Hogwarts to retrieve Harry." It was clear that Sirius wasn't thrilled with the idea of returning to his old family home, but the prospect of finally seeing Harry again seemed to dispel any sign of discontent.

Ginny became anxious once more at the thought of Sirius and Harry being reunited at last. _Finally,_ she thought, _everything will be set right._ She only hoped that Harry would understand and in turn could forgive her for keeping such an important secret for so long; her stomach fluttered nervously at the thought. The group disillusioned themselves once more, and made their way back to the Atrium.

_~*~_

_A/N: Finally getting that chapter out was like breathing a sigh of relief! I've been waiting so long to rescue Sirius! I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did. Stay tuned for Sirius' reunions with the rest of his loved ones. Thanks to Tracie, as always, for editing and laughing in all the right places. And a huge thanks, as well, to everyone who reviewed the last chapter; your feedback is what keeps this story going! Please don't forget to review this one! :)_


	17. Some Semblance of Normalcy

The Guardians

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these wonderful characters; they all belong to the magnificent J.K. Rowling. (Except for the original few that you'll be able to recognize yourselves!)

**Chapter 17: Some Semblance of Normalcy**

Sirius Black never thought he would be walking up these steps again. And what was even more ironic, was that he had this exact thought about a year ago, when they had decided to use his loathed former home as the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. More than twenty years had passed since he ran away and swore never to return to this house, yet here he was _again_. He followed the rest of the group up the front steps and through the door, expecting to hear his mother's piercing voice from her portrait that was forever stuck to the wall; to see the once pretentious pure-blood loving home in shambles; but what graced his eyes was quite the opposite.

Sirius was almost sure he was walking into a completely different house. The halls were lit with candelabras, the walls were painted in a warm welcoming red, reminding him strongly of the Gryffindor common room, rather than the dark, Slytherin feeling the house had given off previously. It was the most welcoming the house had ever looked. The walls were no longer lined with grotesque heads of the Black's former house elves. And what was most obvious was how quiet the halls were without his mother's echoing shriek.

"Where is she? How did you get rid of her?" He asked grinning wildly.

"What are you talking about, Sirius?" Remus asked.

"My mother! I was _sure _she put a permanent sticking charm on it!"

Tonks beamed, "It took a while, but we were eventually able to pry her off the wall. I had a little help from a few friends. Just wait until you see the rest of the house!"

Sirius couldn't stop grinning; it had been a very long time since he had felt this elated about anything. They walked up the stairs, entering the drawing room next, which looked friendlier than ever; it too was painted in the same deep red, with gold trimming; the fire was blazing merrily. And what caught Sirius' eyes immediately was the absence of the tapestry bearing the Black family tree.

He rushed over to his cousin, enthusiastically lifting her off the ground in an embrace, "You're bloody _brilliant, _Dora."

"_Merlin's beard_. You _did_ it!" came the astonished voice of Arthur Weasley from the doorway. Molly was standing at his side, eyes sparkling with tears.

It wasn't long before she was sobbing, and holding Ginny in a bone crushing hug, saying "I'm so sorry we doubted you! We're so proud, Ginevra, _so proud_!"

Arthur chuckled, and offered his hand to Sirius who gladly took it, "It's good to see you, Sirius. Welcome back!"

Sirius grinned, "You've got an amazing daughter, Arthur."

"She is something, isn't she?" Arthur beamed, as he faced his daughter.

Molly, who was still in hysterics, came to crush Sirius in a hug next, "I'm _so _sorry for treating you so horribly before, Sirius!"

He laughed loudly, "Molly, honestly, its fine." He knew they hadn't always agreed on things, but he knew that she only wanted what was best for Harry, as did he.

As he thought of Harry, he turned to his former headmaster, and before he could speak the words, Dumbledore nodded, "I will return to Hogwarts in a moment to retrieve Harry."

Sirius grinned, but everyone else in the room didn't seem as pleased and this puzzled him.

"He might not come too willingly," Hermione began, biting her lip, "He's been very…upset lately." She glanced at Ginny, who looked quite nervous, as she was wringing her hands.

"I'll do what I can. Perhaps I should ask Ronald to escort us, as well?" Dumbledore inquired.

Sirius was about to say that Dumbledore should say or do whatever he felt was necessary, when Molly cut in, and was instantly reminded of why they never got along."Now Albus, don't you think it's slightly ridiculous to drag Harry and Ron out of their beds at this hour?"

"Mum, Harry _deserves _to know," Ginny pleaded desperately.

"Well then it can wait until morning and in the meantime you and Hermione should return to Hogwarts tonight!" Molly stated with authority.

"And come back here tomorrow? Don't you think that's pointless?" Ginny retorted fiercely, despite her obvious fatigue. "And what about Sirius," she continued with just as much fervor, "he just got home; don't you think he ought to see Harry?"

Molly looked as if she was about to protest, but seemed to remember the apology that she had granted Sirius only a few moments before. "I—oh, _all right_," Molly Weasley had surrendered, while Ginny smiled triumphantly, catching Sirius' eye in the process. He grinned; he had never realized how much he liked Ginny.

Dumbledore chuckled, "Now that we've settled that, shall I be on my way?"

"Yes!" Sirius cheered joyfully. He was eager to see his godson again; he couldn't imagine what Harry was feeling right now, having just attended what may as well have been Sirius' funeral. He shuddered at the word.

"Then I will see you all…shortly."

Remus laughed, "If Harry doesn't put up a fight, that is. Good luck, Albus." Without further conversation, the Headmaster departed Grimmauld Place, leaving the rest to wait patiently for Harry to arrive.

"Why don't you all come down to the kitchen, and I'll whip up something?" Molly offered, a bit resignedly.

Sirius agreed wholeheartedly with this idea, since it had been a very long time since he had eaten food of this realm; he had mainly lived off of the fruit that grew on the many trees that surrounded Asphodel Meadows. Kingsley and Moody declined, however, and departed for their respective homes. The rest of the group followed Molly down to the kitchen, with the exception of Ginny who tried, yet unsuccessfully to sneak upstairs unnoticed.

"Where are you going?" Sirius inquired, putting a hand on her shoulder.

She jumped at this unexpected contact and turned to face him, guiltily. "I'm exhausted; I thought I'd go to sleep…"

"Don't you want to be here when Harry arrives? After all, it _is_ thanks to _you _that I'm standing here."

"Er…well, Harry and I haven't really been speaking," she averted her eyes.

"I won't ask, but I'm sure he'd make an exception for this."

"You're probably right, but…I'm absolutely _knackered_ and Harry has a stronger effect on me than everyone else does, which is just going to make me feel worse than I already do." He supposed she was referring to her empathetic abilities.

"It's not that I don't believe that, _but _I think you're just making excuses." He was quite intrigued by Ginny's ability, and wanted to know more, but decided not to press her further. "But then I suppose you deserve a good night's rest so…thank you. For everything, Ginny, really."

"You're welcome, Sirius…just promise you won't need to be rescued again," she grinned tiredly.

Shrugging his shoulders slightly, he chuckled, "I'll do what I can."

She disappeared up the stairs, and Sirius turned to make his way to the kitchen. Once again he was amazed to see how pleasant it appeared; the countertops and table gleamed as if they were always well taken care of.

"Where's Ginny?" Remus inquired as soon as Sirius entered the kitchen.

Sirius sat on Remus' left, "She decided to call it a night. Don't blame her really; she's done a hell of a lot today." He thought it best to leave out the part about Harry. Remus however, raised an eyebrow, apparently unconvinced; Sirius shrugged.

He glanced at Remus out of the corner of his eye, and smiled to himself; he was in complete disbelief that he could sit this close to his fellow Marauder again. He was instantly reminded of a similar feeling he had in Asphodel Meadows when he was shockingly permitted to visit with souls that had passed on years and years before he had ever known of any afterlife. His heart panged at the memory; he wouldn't see any of them again for a very long time. For this he felt, that he should have been happy; however, he couldn't help the feeling of longing to be near them once more. But the fact remained that he belonged _here _in the realm of the living; with Harry.

Realizing that everyone was staring at him, Sirius narrowed his eyes, glancing from face to face, "What's gotten in to all of you?"

"It's just…we never thought we'd see you again," Dora answered.

"And here you are…" Remus added, awe in his voice.

Sirius smiled contently; this was _exactly _where he was meant to be.

* * *

Harry couldn't sleep, not that this was particularly unusual, but Ron's incessant snores were not helping tonight. He turned restlessly, pulling his pillow over his head in the process, in an attempt to drown out the noises emanating from his best mate. It helped only mildly; Harry reached for his wand, about to cast a silencing charm around his four-poster when he thought he heard a knock on the door. He paused, facing the door; the knock sounded again. He was confused as to why _anyone _would knock at this hour, but he was almost certain that it couldn't be anyone out of the ordinary (such as a Death Eater), for they wouldn't bother knocking. However, one could never be _too _certain these days, so holding his wand in front of him, Harry opened the door. He was greatly relieved to find Professor Dumbledore standing on the other side, with a hint of amusement in his bright blue eyes.

"Professor, is everything all right?"

Dumbledore smiled, "Yes, for once, everything seems to be working out quite accordingly."

Harry looked at the headmaster quizzically, "Er, Professor, what exactly are you doing here?"

Dumbledore chuckled, "Ah, excellent question. I'll answer it, but you'll have to come with me first…you might want to wake Mr. Weasley, as well."

"Where—"

"You'll see when we arrive. I'll wait in the common room until you and Mr. Weasley are ready to leave." Before Harry could inquire further, Dumbledore swept down the spiral staircase. Harry knew Dumbledore to be very mysterious, and oftentimes vague, but this seemed to top them all.

It was quite difficult to shake Ron out of his deep slumber, but after about ten minutes, Harry convinced him to get out of his bed, but was unsuccessful in convincing him to change out of his pajamas. "We're probably just going to his office," Ron mumbled as he opened the door and began down the stairs to the common room.

When they entered the common room, Dumbledore was sitting on a sofa, facing the empty fire; upon seeing them he rose, "It's been a very long time since I've spent time in this room…it brings back many fond memories." He glanced around the room one last time, his face looking younger as he recalled his past. "Let's be off then."

Harry nodded eager to accompany Dumbledore wherever he planned on escorting them, while Ron assented groggily.

"I am going to disillusion both of you, and then you'll follow me." He explained, and proceeded to cast the charm on each of them, and exited the portrait hole. They followed Dumbledore down to the entrance hall, and out the oak front doors. The cool air hit their faces and Harry glanced at where Ron was supposed to be, knowing that he surely regretted not putting on a sweater at the very least.

When they arrived at the wrought iron gates, Dumbledore whispered a number of incantations that were inaudible to Harry. The gates creaked open, and the trio exited them, and Dumbledore muttered a string of words once more. "Take hold of an arm, gentlemen, we're going to disapparate."

Harry hesitated at first, but he was more interested in finding out where Dumbledore was planning on taking them to allow worry to take over. The feeling of apparition was by far the strangest thing Harry had ever experienced; if he wasn't holding tightly to Dumbledore's arm, he was almost certain that he would have fallen over when they arrived at their destination. Once his head stopped spinning, Harry realized where exactly that destination was. Harry recognized Grimmauld Square, and as he turned he saw the large, gloomy house, (though invisible to most other people), that was the headquarters to the Order of the Phoenix. He had no desire to be back at this house; it held too much darkness for him. And of all nights to bring him here, Dumbledore chose the night of Sirius' memorial service; Harry couldn't comprehend what Dumbledore's intentions could possibly be. He was brought out of his reverie by a tap on the head from Dumbledore's wand. His body was visible again, and he knew that the headmaster could now see the confused anger that plagued Harry's expression.

Ron looked over at Harry, worry written all over his visage; he knew how Harry felt about returning here.

Dumbledore, however, remained calm, "Why don't we go inside; I am certain you will feel much better once we do."

Harry wanted to protest, but couldn't find the right words to do so; his hands, balled into fists, were beginning to shake as they made their way up the stone steps that led to the house that once belonged to his godfather. When the three entered, Harry was expecting to see the usual dark, filthy house that he had first encountered the summer before his fifth year, but was stunned when he walked into what seemed to be a very different place; one that was much more inviting. Ron seemed to share his sentiments, as he stared in awe at their surroundings.

Harry was about to inquire about the renovations, when he was nearly barreled down by a large black dog, who immediately began licking his face. Alarmed, not by the dog itself, but by the eerie familiarity of it, Harry pushed the dog off and backed away. Harry's mind raced, but what kept popping back into his head was, _what were they thinking; getting a dog that __**looks**__like Sirius?_

As if on cue, the dog transformed into a man, with long dark hair, and a boyish grin plastered to his face.

"Is this some kind of _sick_ _joke_?" Harry began, facing Dumbledore, outrage flooding his voice. The man's (for Harry refused to refer to him as Sirius) face fell at this accusation.

When no one responded, Harry's voice began to rise, "Is it?"

"No, Harry…it's me, I promise. It really is." The man claiming to be Sirius stepped closer, as Harry scrutinized him.

"Prove it," Harry said shortly.

Grinning, in that very familiar way, he began, "The very first time we met, I asked you to live with me, and you said that you would. Is that enough?"

"Anyone could have told you that…"

The man made to reply but he was cut off, by the arrival of Hermione, Remus, Tonks, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, all looking unusually energized, seeing as it was about four o'clock in the morning.

Harry's attention turned to them, confused and betrayed that they seemed to be in on such a cruel trick. He turned to Ron, half expecting him to say that he knew all along, as well. But upon being scrutinized by Harry's accusing stare, Ron shook his head defensively, "I promise, mate, I'm as clueless as you."

"Harry," came Sirius' voice, bringing his attention back to the situation at hand.

"How do I know you haven't taken polyjuice potion or something? That this has to do with some twisted mission for the Order…"

"_Because_ he wouldn't be able to transform into his animagus form if he had taken polyjuice," Hermione spoke from her place near the stairs, looking anxiously at him.

"Bloody hell, then it _is _you…you're _alive._" Ron's face broke into a grin of amazement.

"But it's not impossible for someone else to learn how to become an animagus…" Harry argued.

"Yes, but what are the odds someone would have the _exact _form that I have?" Sirius countered.

Harry shook his head, "But how are you…you _can't_ be…alive."

Sirius grinned broadly, "But I _am_. And I'll tell you everything if you would just let me."

Harry was instantly reminded of the night that he first met Sirius. That night, he had accused Sirius of things that were untrue, based on misunderstandings he had heard from others. But this time, Harry was basing his assumptions on something that he witnessed with his very own eyes; however, he reflected that no one was certain about the properties of the veil, so if he allowed himself to _hope _then maybe…

Harry looked Sirius in the eye for the first time since he had walked through the door of number twelve Grimmauld place, "So that veil, it didn't…kill you?"

"Apparently not!" Ron voiced, grinning broadly.

Sirius laughed briefly and was about to respond but Dumbledore spoke first, "We would _all _like to hear what occurred on the other side…but I think Miss Weasley should be present."

"Ginny? What does she have to do with anything?" Harry asked.

"Everything!" Sirius began brightly, "She saved my life."

"That's what she was hiding from you, Harry," Hermione announced before Harry could react. He sensed that she was probably trying to help patch things with him and Ginny before they went further. Even though he didn't need Hermione's help with fixing his problems with Ginny, or anyone for that matter, he had to admit that it was a relief to finally know what she had been hiding from him for the past few months. His heart sunk when he realized what a prat he had been to her; she was only trying to help, and all he did was accuse her of being too friendly with Malfoy.

"Where is she?" He _had _noticed that she wasn't present, but didn't think much of it until they mentioned her involvement.

"Sleeping," began Mrs. Weasley, "and I think it's best to leave her until the morning. She's had a very long night."

Sirius sighed, "I'll have to agree with Molly on this one. She needs to rest."

"So can you tell the rest of us, and _then _we'll fill Ginny in?" Ron asked hopefully. Harry grinned for the first time since he arrived at his godfather's home. Leave it to Ron.

"No, you heard the Headmaster, it is only fair to wait for Ginny. Off to bed then, all of you," Mrs. Weasley instructed.

Harry looked at Sirius, hoping he would defy Mrs. Weasley's orders, for it _should _be up to him, but Sirius' eyes were averted and Harry was almost certain he was frowning slightly.

"Sirius," Harry started.

His godfather caught his eye, smiled, but shook his head in dissent, "No, I'd rather recount the story as little as possible."

Harry nodded, but couldn't help but think that Sirius was agreeing with Mrs. Weasley, not for the reasons given, but for his own private reasons. Ron and Hermione began to climb the stairs, making their way to the bedrooms they had stayed in last summer. Harry made to follow, but Sirius caught his arm.

"You're not angry, are you?" Sirius asked his eyes filled with concern.

"About what?" Harry asked incredulously. He had absolutely nothing to be angry about; if anything he was beginning to become ashamed of the way he treated Ginny, and everyone else in the last few months. And most of all, he felt relief and utter happiness that Sirius was alive and well. At this last thought, he smiled genuinely for the first time in weeks.

Relief washed over Sirius' face as he took in Harry's smile, "I just thought that…well because this was kept secret from you and the fact that I've been gone for so long. You'd have reason enough to be angry."

"It's not your fault that you've been gone, Sirius. I was never angry _at you_."

"Well you shouldn't be angry with Ginny either, not that it's any of my business or anything…"

Harry laughed, "Er…I'll work it out with her. But thanks for the concern…and erm, I'm sorry for reacting the way I did. I mean, how would _you _react if someone who you thought was dead walked into a room?"

Sirius' eyes clouded, "Oh believe me; I know _exactly _what you mean. No harm done, Harry." Harry assumed he was referring to their encounter with Wormtail back in his third year.

"It _is _wonderful to see you again though," Harry said, a lump forming in his throat unexpectedly, just as Sirius embraced him in a fatherly hug, and Harry could feel himself really truly relax for the first time since the previous June.

* * *

Sirius was the first to wake up (and last to go to sleep the night before, for Dumbledore had requested that they speak of Sirius' last few months since he wouldn't be present the following morning), though it was well past noon by the time he did. The house was quiet, but not in the eerie way that had been customary for this house. The curtains were open, allowing sunlight to diffuse brightly through every window. Taking a seat at the head of the kitchen table, he pulled the mornings _Prophet_ closer, opening to the crossword. He summoned a quill from the countertop and began to fill in some answers. He always loved crossword puzzles; they were challenging enough to keep his mind occupied, and throughout his years at Hogwarts, he frequently used it as a way to avoid thinking about his problems. But right now it was mostly an attempt to return to the routine he had left behind last June.

He leaned back in his chair, as he contemplated a particular clue; he happened to look up, and noticed that Remus was standing in the doorway, a look of pure amazement on his face. Sirius smiled, knowing that his best friend was still completely astonished to see him in the flesh. He knew the feeling all too well as he recalled his brief reunion with James, Lily, and Regulus during his stay in the Meadow. Repressing a sigh, he greeted his old friend, "Morning, Moony!"

"I'm still in shock…" Remus voiced, proving Sirius' musings correct.

Sirius nodded, that he understood, "I woke up this morning half expecting to be in that meadow." He laughed, and let the legs of the chairs slam back onto the tiled floor. When everyone went off to bed the previous night, he lay awake contemplating his luck. Because that's all he could attribute it to; he was given yet another chance at life, something he hadn't fully appreciated when he escaped Azkaban. And he was sure that if he hadn't had the privilege of speaking to Regulus, James and Lily during his stay in Asphodel Meadows that he would still not fully appreciate it this time. He knew that he still had many demons to face, but he hadn't realized just how much he avoided them until very recently. He still had a long way to go, but Sirius had made a promise to them that he wouldn't waste any more time, if he was ever given another chance.

"A knut for your thoughts?" Remus said, taking a seat near Sirius, bringing him out of his reverie.

"I'm just…feeling much better than I have in a very long time." He wanted to tell Remus about his encounter with their old friends, but he also remembered the warnings that Tartarus gave him when he left. He wasn't to reveal secrets, but he wasn't sure if this fell into that category. During his brief conversation with Dumbledore the night before, in which he revealed as little as possible, Albus had told him that he should take his time and not reveal anything that he didn't feel was necessary. He was grateful that at least someone had understood.

"You _look_ better too…I can't really explain it. Happier, healthier. More like…" He trailed off, casting his eyes away from Sirius. "But I wasn't sure if it was just the excitement of being back, so I didn't want to say anything right away."

"And you're _quite _easy to be around. I expected you to be worse than Harry. No offense or anything, it's just that you've got _a lot _of darkness in your life," Ginny's voice sounded from the doorway, as she made her way into the kitchen.

Sirius chuckled, "Well, I'm turning over a new leaf. I won't let my 'darkness' affect anyone quite as negatively as I've done in the past."

Remus made a choking noise that almost sounded like a laugh. Sirius raised his brow, "You don't believe me, Moony?"

"Did I say that?" Remus tried to look innocent.

"So," Ginny began, turning the subject away from Sirius' vow to lessen his brooding, "How did it go with Harry last night?" She appeared nervous at the mention of his godson.

Sirius caught Remus' eye, and they both grinned, "Well, it could have been a disaster, but we prevented it from escalating too far."

"I think she already knew _that, _Padfoot."

"Yes, but that's—"

"So he's okay then?" Ginny took a seat across from them, looking noticeably relieved. Just as Sirius was going to reply, Ginny gasped turning towards the entrance to the kitchen.

"I'm great, actually." Harry was now standing in the doorway, apprehension in his eyes as he looked at Ginny.

"_How _did you know he was standing there?" Sirius asked incredulously, looking between the two of them.

Ginny laughed a little breathlessly, never taking her eyes from Harry, "It's part of my gift."

Sirius' eyes gleamed as he was about to make a teasing comment, and Remus elbowed him before the words could leave his mouth; he reluctantly obliged.

Harry glared at him, clearly sensing Sirius' amusement, and turned his gaze back to Ginny, "Can I…talk to you? In private, I mean." This last statement was said with another quick glance at Sirius, who attempted to hide his smile, but knew he was doing a very bad job of it.

Her cheeks tinged red, "Sure…" She rose from her chair, hurrying out of the room without even a glance at Sirius or Remus.

Harry and Ginny were barely out of the kitchen when Sirius and Remus burst into fits of laughter.

"Brings back so many memories," Remus sighed.

"Except it took Lily and James forever to come to an agreement about how they felt about each other," Sirius added.

"You're one to talk," Remus said giving him a sideways glance, but Sirius avoided his gaze at this remark.

"That was _her, _not _me,_" Sirius grinned, but it didn't quite meet his eyes. This was something that he didn't voluntarily think about. He knew that seeing her again was very unlikely; they couldn't find her before he disappeared into Asphodel Meadows, so he wasn't going to give himself reason to think that had changed now that he had returned.

Remus rolled his eyes, "I think you're being a bit biased, Padfoot…"

Sirius met Remus' eyes, "I don't want to talk about this." He rose from his place at the table and began busying himself with preparing breakfast, and if he hadn't had his back turned he would have noticed the satisfied grin that appeared on Remus' face seconds later; for his old friend knew that Sirius would soon _love _to discuss such topics.

* * *

Ginny followed Harry out of the kitchen, and up to the parlor; her heart fluttered nervously at the thought of having a private conversation with Harry. This was the first time they would be alone in weeks. When they reached the parlor, Harry shut the door; Ginny pulled out her wand, casting the _muffliato_ charm around the room. Harry caught her eye, and she replied, "There's too many people lurking in this house, and let's face it…they're all going to be very interested in what we have to say to each other."

Harry laughed at this, and she felt the air around them grow less tense, as they both began to relax.

"Ginny, I was a complete idiot for assuming that you and Malfoy were…well, you know what I mean," Harry was looking fixedly at his hands.

She shook her head, "I just thought you knew me better than that, Harry."

"I do, it's just that you were being so secretive, and I didn't know what to think, and all the stress of having to attend Sirius' memorial, it was all too much for me."

She nodded, "And had I not been so preoccupied with finding a way to rescue him I probably would have confronted you about that Malfoy situation sooner, but I needed to keep my research a secret from you. I couldn't bear you finding out only to be let down if I couldn't find a way to rescue Sirius. So I suppose I used your anger to my advantage, and I'm sorry."

"Don't be ridiculous, you have nothing to apologize for…but Ginny tell me something. Was it really a coincidence that Malfoy was there every time you were…I mean do you think he had another agenda?"

She wasn't surprised that Harry had come to this conclusion, for she too had considered this so she began to tell him the only plausible reason she had come up with, "I think he knows Legilimency…" The look in Harry's eyes proved that he had not been expecting that, "He asked me if I practiced Occlumency, and although I thought it was odd at the time, I've just begun to piece it together." She began telling him how she couldn't feel his emotions when she was around him, and confessed that it was sort of a relief, to not have to consciously block out someone's feelings, but at the same time it was disturbing that _he _of all people had this trait.

"And then last night, while we were waiting to depart for the Ministry, I realized that I couldn't sense Dumbledore's emotions either. And that got me thinking that maybe Malfoy knows Legilimency, and the reason he asked me about Occlumency was because he couldn't read my thoughts just as I couldn't decipher his emotions."

"But," Harry began, "I'm sure he's encountered quite a few people whose thoughts he couldn't read."

"Well, it's a very precise form of magic…you have to be very practiced in it, and I have never heard of anyone being a _natural _at Occlumency, so that's probably why he was curious. He definitely wouldn't think that anyone would have taught _me _the art."

"He was right though, no one did…" Harry said, "So, why is it that he can't read your thoughts?"

"I can only assume that it's got to do with being an Empath, but I don't know for sure," she said a bit guiltily, "because I've only skimmed that book Dumbledore gave me. You know, since I was quite busy with rescuing Sirius."

"You've been…really busy," Harry commented, and Ginny laughed.

"Yes…a little _too_ busy. I'm quite glad to have this over and done with, because it was driving me mad; I couldn't sleep properly, I rarely found time to eat more than a few pieces of toast, and I was falling behind in all of my classes. Snape was ready to hex me, I'm sure of it."

"I'm sure if he knew what you were up to, he _really _would have hexed you," Harry laughed, referring to Snape's contempt for anything involving Sirius. But then he continued more seriously, "I…really can't express how grateful I am; you're truly amazing."

Ginny blushed, "Hermione did help me, so I can't take all the credit."

Harry rolled his eyes, "Don't be so modest, Ginny. Come on," he said, "Let's go see if everyone else is up; we've all been dying to hear what happened on the other side."

Ginny bit her lip apprehensively, as they made their way out of the parlor, and back towards the kitchen, "Well…I don't know if Sirius mentioned it but we aren't really supposed to talk about it too much. The Guardians of Asphodel Meadow said that we must keep the secrets of the realms. And I'm pretty sure they were talking more to Sirius than to me, considering the length of time he spent there." They arrived in the kitchen (which now smelled deliciously of bacon and eggs) as she said the last bit of this, and she knew Sirius had heard her. He and Remus were now accompanied by a very tired looking Ron and Hermione. The two sat down on either side of them.

"Well that doesn't mean we can't tell them _anything_…I think what Tartarus meant was that I wasn't to reveal any of the things that Elysium shared with me without his permission."

"How about we start with who Elysium and Tartarus are?" Ron interjected, with a small yawn.

Ginny looked to Sirius, and he nodded for her to continue, "They are the two Guardians of Asphodel Meadows, which is the land on the other side of the veil. They…well, they looked like they could have been gods, but I'm not really sure how they would classify themselves."

Sirius laughed, "Tartarus would like to think so, but Elysium told me the truth-"

"Sirius, isn't that what he—"

He shook his head dismissively, "No, I'm certain he only meant to cover that up because he was embarrassed. They _were _gods, a very long time ago, but they had fallen from grace, and their punishment was to care for the Meadow and the souls that inhabit it. Tartarus deals with the bad souls, taking them to hell, or the underworld if you will, and Elysium brings the good souls forward…to heaven."

"So there _is _a heaven and hell?" Hermione said, looking fascinated.

"They're all just titles, but yes…there are separate fates for good and bad souls."

"And the Meadow, that's like purgatory then?" Hermione continued, captivated.

"In a manner of speaking, yes, but as you have obviously noticed, living people can end up there, as well…just not very often."

"And why couldn't they just let you go?" Remus put in.

Sirius smiled wryly at Ginny, "They said that _simple humans _couldn't come and go as they pleased." She grinned back proudly.

"And what's so special about Ginny?" Ron joked.

"She's an _empath, _you thick-" Hermione began but she was cut off by Remus.

"Well, is that it, Sirius?"

"I…yes, I suppose." He looked to Ginny, who caught a flicker of sadness from him, but it was gone before she could properly question it.

"So that's all you're going to tell us? You were there for four months and that's _it_?" Harry looked unconvinced and Sirius looked guilty for disappointing his godson.

"I haven't had much of a chance to sort it all out. I've got to figure out what's alright to share, and what would be considered breaking their rules," Sirius defended.

"Well, you've got until Christmas, considering that's when you'll be seeing us again," Harry said evenly. Ginny could sense his dissatisfaction, but she could also tell that he was trying to cover it up so that he didn't upset Sirius. But she wasn't fooled, and she knew that Sirius wasn't either. Harry's reminder made Sirius sink within himself, his glowing happiness abating.

"Did Dumbledore say what's going to happen now that the entire wizarding world believes that Sirius is dead?" Ron changed the subject as if on cue.

"He didn't say anything about it, but I'm going to assume he'd _prefer,_" and Remus looked at Sirius meaningfully, "that Sirius remains here until the Order discusses it as a whole."

Sirius looked as if he wanted to make a comment but Harry beat him to it, "I think that's best." Seeing Sirius' astonished expression, he continued, "Well…think about it, there were too many Death Eaters that witnessed what happened the night you fell through the veil…if any one of them sees you, they're going to be _very _suspicious."

"Yes…and Merlin knows what they're going to try to do then. What if they try to get through the veil and do something horrible?" Hermione added eyes wide.

"And do _what _exactly? They won't be able to get back through without someone like Ginny," Sirius countered.

"Ginny probably isn't the only "non-simple human" out there, Sirius," Remus stated.

"Voldemort isn't very simple…" Harry voiced.

"But, that doesn't mean he's capable of entering Asphodel Meadows…Ginny's an empath not some psychotic immortal dark lord."

"Did they say _only _empaths can enter the Meadow?" Remus asked skeptically, "Because, immortality may be a perfect qualification for a not so simple human."

"No, but they didn't say that Voldemort would be able to enter," Sirius replied scornfully.

"Still, it's not a risk worth taking," Ginny said quietly. She was almost afraid to speak. She knew that Sirius would be furious about staying cooped up in Grimmauld Place once more, but she also knew that not one person in the Order of the Phoenix would agree with him. But she didn't go through all the trouble of rescuing him, just to watch him walk out the door and risk being captured by Death Eaters. "I'm sorry," she added as she felt his frustration wash over the room.

"Right…well, it's wonderful to know how _you _all feel on this matter," he said derisively as he exited the kitchen.

"So much for him not brooding anymore," Remus sighed, looking at Ginny who nodded.

"Do you think he…well…is he unhappy that he's home?" Harry looked to Remus with distress dripping from his tone.

Remus sighed heavily, "No…but I do think he expects too much. He should know better. The circumstances aren't much different than they were last time. He'll get over it, just give him some time."

"Just…don't let Snape speak to him whenever he shows up," Harry began very seriously, "He knows just what to say to get on Sirius' nerves. And Sirius _always _takes it to heart."

Remus smiled, "Your father used to say the very same thing. I suppose some things will never change." Harry returned the smile weakly.

The room settled into a general gloom that Ginny couldn't ignore, and it was only about to get worse as Remus spoke, "Now, I'm sorry to have to be the one to break this to you lot, but you've got to head back to school shortly. Dumbledore requested that you return sometime before the Halloween feast tonight." Remus looked from Ron to Ginny, "And your mother was adamant that you return shortly after you woke up this morning." It was more than clear to all of them that it was well past morning.

Harry, Ron and Ginny groaned in unison, but Hermione said, "It's probably best…since Sirius needs to…adjust to being home."

Remus nodded looking at Harry's sullen face, "She's right…let him wind down. He'll be all right by Christmas." He rose from his place at the table, "I'm going to see if I can at least get him to say goodbye, but in the meantime get yourselves ready and we'll meet back here in an hour and you can floo back to Dumbledore's office."

* * *

They did as they were told, and within an hour they all assembled in the kitchen, where Remus and much to Harry's relief, Sirius were waiting for them. Sirius still looked despondent but he was obviously trying to disguise it as best as possible. They all said their goodbyes to the two men, then throwing a handful of floo powder into the roaring fire, turning it green, shouting "_Albus Dumbledore's office, Hogwarts," _and disappearing. Harry was last to leave; Remus hugged him, and as Sirius was about to do the same, he grasped Harry by the shoulders, "I'm sorry…I—"

Harry shook his head and stared him in the eyes, "Don't…I understand. But you have to promise you won't make the same mistakes you did last time, Sirius. I mean it…I don't," He swallowed a lump that unsuspectingly began to form in his throat, and continued, "I don't want to lose you again."

His godfather nodded, seemingly speechless, and hugged him tightly. "See you at Christmas then." Harry waved to them both once more, threw his floo powder into the grate, and stepped into the warm green flames, and whooshed out of site at the command to return to Hogwarts. A few minutes later, he was coughing and standing in the familiar office, where his friends were waiting for him. Dumbledore however, was nowhere in sight.

"You all right?" Ron asked, taking in Harry's expression.

He sighed, and allowed himself a smile at the thought of just having left Sirius; he still couldn't believe it, "Yeah, it's just unfortunate that we had to leave so soon…"

"Don't worry, it'll be Christmas before you know it," Hermione consoled. She looked at her watch, "Come on, we should get back to the common room," and she began to walk towards the spiral staircase that led out of the office.

Harry grabbed Ginny's hand as Hermione and Ron led the way. He caught her eye, and they both smiled at each other.

When they arrived in the Gryffindor common room a few minutes later, Neville was sitting at a corner table, hard at work on an essay. When he spotted them, he said as if he'd been searching for them forever, "_There _you are…I was beginning to think that maybe you all went off on some adventure to the Ministry again and didn't invite the rest of the D.A. this time."

Harry saw Ginny and Hermione exchange an amused glance, but Ron spoke jesting, "Don't be ridiculous, Neville, _of course _we'd invite you."

Neville grinned, "Anyway, would one of you be willing to help me with this…it's that essay Snape assigned on Polyjuice Potion and I'm a bit lost. Cassidy said she'd work with me on it, but I haven't been able to find her. And then I thought that she was with you, until you just showed up…"

"Of course we'll help you, Neville," Hermione replied.

"Yeah, the three of us are _experts _on Polyjuice, isn't that right Harry?" Ron grinned at him.

Harry returned the smile, and Hermione shot them both reproving glances. Ginny looked between the three of them curiously. Harry shook his head, and bent close to her ear, "I'll tell you later…"

The afternoon went on quickly, as they relaxed in the common room. Ginny began to catch up on the work she had been missing the last few weeks, while Hermione assisted Neville with his potions essay. Ron and Harry played a few games of wizard chess, while Hermione would occasionally nag them to begin their own homework, which they blatantly ignored.

When it was time for the feast, the five of them departed for the Great Hall. They took their seats and began to load their plates with the many foods that crowded the Gryffindor house table. They were all truly enjoying themselves, and Harry caught Dumbledore's eye at one point, who winked at him. Dessert followed as usual, gracing the table with an abundance of sweets and cakes. When the feast was over, they made their way back to the Gryffindor common room, their bellies full and their minds free of any gloomy thoughts.

It wasn't until they entered the common room that Hermione voiced concern, "You know…Cassidy wasn't at the feast. Didn't you say that you hadn't seen her all day?" She said turning to Neville. They all exchanged uneasy glances.

"You don't think…no, never mind, someone would have realized by now." Ginny was biting her lip, no doubt hoping that Cassidy hadn't somehow encountered something or _someone _sinister.

"I'll be right back," Harry said, and he raced up the staircase to the boy's dormitory. He rummaged through his things and pulled out the Marauder's Map, tapping it with his wand, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." He scanned it quickly.

"Come on," he muttered, "Where are you, Cassidy…" Finally, he located the dot labeled, _Cassiopeia Lestrange_ in the corner of the owlery. He cleared the map, folded it and shoved it into the pocket of his robes.

He returned to the common room where his friends waited expectantly, "She's in the owlery." The four of them looked relieved, and Neville looked a little confused, but didn't question how Harry knew.

"Do you think she's all right? I mean, if she hasn't been around all day…" Ginny asked worriedly.

"There's only one way to find out," Ron said. And they traipsed back through the portrait hole (eliciting a complaint from the Fat Lady, "But you _just _got back!") in the direction of the owlery.

A few minutes later they arrived at their destination; it was quite chilly and the lamps were dim, but it didn't take long to spot Cassidy. She was sitting near an open window, a letter clutched in one hand. She didn't seem to notice their arrival until they were a few feet away from where she sat and was visibly startled by their sudden appearance.

Upon closer inspection, it was clear that she had been crying because her eyes were red rimmed and her cheeks tear stained.

"Cassidy, what's wrong?" Ginny said, kneeling next to her.

She shook her head, and averted her eyes, "It's nothing, don't worry…I'm just being childish."

Harry couldn't see Ginny's face from where he stood, but he was sure her expression displayed that she was not at all convinced. "Don't be silly, we're your friends…you can tell us, and we won't judge you. I promise." She turned to look at the rest of them, and they nodded reassuringly.

Cassidy's eyes filled with tears, and she buried her head in her knees, and uttered something inaudible. "What was that, I couldn't hear you," Ginny said softly.

Cassidy lifted her face, "It's my birthday…"

"We're _bad _friends," Ron muttered, but Hermione shushed him.

"No, that's not why I'm upset," Cassidy choked, "I'm not an idiot; I can't expect you to know that it's my birthday without having told you first." She took a deep breath, "It's just that I haven't spoken to anyone from home since I left, and I know that it's impossible to, but I—" and she broke off into a fresh wave of sobs.

Ginny didn't say anything, but instead wrapped her arms around Cassidy's curled up form.

"Can't you send them letters?" Neville suggested.

Cassidy shook her head miserably, "My parents…they don't even remember who I am."

Hermione, Ginny, and Neville were all very surprised to hear this, but Cassidy had told Harry and Ron a few weeks earlier, when Bellatrix's identity was revealed to a quite shaken Cassidy.

"Dumbledore cast memory charms on them after Cassidy left for Hogwarts," Harry explained so that Cassidy didn't have to voice her distress.

"Well what about your friends, couldn't you write to them?" Hermione suggested.

Cassidy sighed heavily, "There's one friend I would like to write to. But am I even allowed? What would I even be able to tell him?" She absently folded a corner of the parchment that was still clutched in her hand, "He doesn't know that I'm a witch, he doesn't know anything about where I am; just that I had to leave. What could I possibly say?"

"I think you already know," Ginny said, pointing to the letter that became increasingly more wrinkled as Cassidy fiddled with it.

Shaking her head, Cassidy replied, "It's so vague, he would just be confused. Besides it's not like he can write back to me…he doesn't have an owl."

"You can just instruct the owl to wait around for it," Ron suggested.

"Yes but, he's a muggle, he wouldn't understand how owl post works," Hermione added.

"It doesn't matter," Ron pressed on, "As long as the owl takes the letter, it won't matter if he understands it; just that Cassidy gets a response."

Hermione looked skeptical, but Neville nodded, "I think that's the best idea there is."

"There's only one other problem," said Harry, "What if that letter gets intercepted? You don't want to risk putting your friend in danger." Harry knew that if any Death Eater (namely Bellatrix) who was aware of Cassidy's existence happened to intercept that letter, they would no doubt track down this friend and torture, if not kill the boy, just for the sake of murdering a muggle.

Hermione smiled, "That's actually not a problem at all. There's a simple spell that we cast on everything that we sent to you over the summer. It causes the parcel or letter to burst into flames if it lands in the wrong hands."

Harry was impressed; he hadn't known about that at all. Of course, it made perfect sense for there to be such a spell, but he never gave it any thought before.

"Well hand over the letter then," Ron said, motioning to Cassidy. She looked apprehensive, but handed the parchment to Ron, who handed it over to Hermione. Hermione traced her wand over the enter paper, muttering the incantation; the parchment glowed red for a moment, and then returned to normal.

"You can borrow Pig," Ron said, and just as he did, the tiny owl fluttered over from a perch above them, racing in circles around Ron's head excitedly. He fastened the parchment to the tiny owl, and firmly told him, "Now wait for him to reply, and make sure he sees you with the letter on your leg so that he knows what to do." Pigwidgeon hooted in response, and took flight out the window.

Cassidy stood up, and watched the tiny owl disappear, then turned to her friends, "Thank you…it's great to know that you all cared enough to look for me."

"Come on," Harry said, "I bet if we go down to the kitchens, Dobby will be glad to find us some cake that we can use to celebrate your birthday."

"Yeah, I can't believe you missed your first Halloween feast!" Ron said incredulously.

"Ron! Don't rub it in!" Hermione scolded, but Cassidy laughed. It was quite obvious that she was just glad to have company after hiding out in the owlery all day.

They made their way down to the kitchens, remarkably without meeting a single teacher, and just as expected, Dobby was thrilled to supply them with the left over desserts from the Halloween feast. He squeaked many Happy Birthdays to Cassidy from the moment Ron told him that it was her birthday, to the minute they left. They hurried along to Gryffindor tower, and spent the remainder of the night celebrating.

* * *

_(Two weeks later)_

It was Thursday evening and Alix was spending time with Aurora; they were reading from her favorite book of (muggle) fairy tales. For her age, Aurora was quite a good reader, because Alix had been teaching her simple words since Aurora could talk. After all, it had always been just the two of them, so Alix had no problem devoting her entire life to her daughter.

"Now you're turn to read one to _me_," Aurora suggested as they finished Cinderella.

Alix smiled, "Alright, but just _one _more. Which one would you like to hear next?"

"Beauty and the Beast!" Aurora said enthusiastically, "Is the beast a werewolf, mummy?" She asked her blue eyes wide.

"I—well that's a good question. Why do you ask though?"

"He _looks _like a werewolf," she said matter-of-factly.

"And how do _you _know what a werewolf looks like?" She was even more perplexed that she knew what a werewolf was, since she had only known of the wizarding world for a few months.

"Dobby told me! I was showing him my book and he said," And she made her voice high pitched to imitate her house elf friend, "Muggles know how werewolves looks!"

Alix laughed, but Aurora continued, "_Is _the beast a werewolf, mummy?"

"I suppose he _could _be," she began, "But the beast stays a beast until the spell is broken…while werewolves are only, er…beasts during the full moon and they are men or women for the rest of the time."

Her eyes widened at this last statement, "So _anyone _can be a werewolf?"

"Well, only if they were bitten by one," Alix informed. She was always hesitant to fill her daughter in on such gruesome topics, but Aurora was quite curious as most five year olds were.

"Well the _beast _wasn't bit by a wolf," Aurora said matter-of-factly, "A _witch _changed him! Can _real _witches do that, mummy?"

"They can turn people into creatures, but not werewolves. Werewolves are only made by other werewolves."

Aurora nodded thoughtfully, and Alix smiled at her and asked, "May we begin the story now?"

"Yes, please!" And Alix began to read, but barely made it past the second page when they were interrupted by an owl tapping on the window. Placing the book face down, as to not lose their page, Alix strode across the room to let the owl in; she quickly untied the letter, and the owl wasting no time, immediately took flight out the open window. She unrolled the small piece of parchment that read,

_Mandatory meeting tomorrow night; promptly seven o'clock._

She'd received notes like this at least once a week, but never before had they been mandatory. She had yet to attend an Order meeting, mostly because she didn't want to leave Aurora alone with the house elves at night. And Alix felt guilty sending her daughter off to spend the night with either her parents or her sister, Victoria. It wasn't so much that they or Aurora complained (for Alix's parents adored their granddaughter now that they had learned of her existence), it was more due to the fact that Alix's mother made at least one unpleasant comment about her fifteen year absence every time they were together.

Throwing the parchment into the fireplace (a rule that she was taught during the first war), she went back to reading fairy tales with her daughter. She would just have to speak with Dumbledore tomorrow, explaining to him her predicament.

* * *

"Enjoy your weekend," Alix said as her sixth years left her classroom. She began to neatly arrange their essays into a pile, when Harry approached her desk.

"I've already told everyone that the D.A. meeting would be canceled for tonight," he said.

"Oh?" She asked, not quite understanding why.

"Well, because you've got an Order meeting, so I figured, the rest of us would take the night off too. Which reminds me," Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a slip of parchment and handed it to her.

She took it from him, and read _Number Twelve Grimmauld Place is the headquarters to the Order of the Phoenix_. Something about the address seemed familiar, but she couldn't quite place why. "I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to attend," she said, meeting his eyes, "I haven't got anyone to look after Aurora."

Harry smiled, "But it's _mandatory_, and trust me, you wouldn't want to miss it. And I'm certain they wouldn't mind if you brought your daughter with you…there's plenty of room there."

Alix scrutinized him; the look in his eye reminded her strongly of James, "What are you up to, Harry?"

He grinned, but didn't budge, "You'll have to wait and see. Enjoy your weekend, Professor." And with that, he exited the room.

Her eyes scanned the parchment several more times, until she had it memorized and then tossed it into the fire, and watched it wither to ash.

* * *

Alix fastened Aurora's red cloak, wrapping her old Gryffindor house scarf around her neck, and pulled her matching hat over her ears, much to her daughter's contempt. "Mummy," Aurora asked pushing the hat up slightly so her eyes were more visible, "where are we going?"

"A meeting," Alix replied as she fastened her own black cloak.

"Will there be other children there?" Aurora questioned, hopefully.

Alix sighed, "No, I'm afraid not." Aurora's face fell, but Alix continued, "Remus and Dora will be there though. You like them, remember?"

"The lady with the colorful hair?"

Alix smiled, "Yes, that's the one."

"Okay," Aurora said, "But can I bring my crayons?"

"I think that's an excellent idea." Alix waved her wand, and Aurora's crayons packed themselves back into their box, and then into a rucksack. She waved her wand at a stack of fresh parchment, and they too packed themselves. "Anything else?" She asked her daughter.

"My book of fairy tales!" Aurora said excitedly; she was always very keen to see magic performed. It was all still quite new to her, even living at Hogwarts.

"All right, are we ready to go then?" she said, taking Aurora's small mitten clad hand, and holding the rucksack of Aurora's things in the other. The five year old nodded enthusiastically.

They made their way to the entrance hall, and out into the cold November air. The sun had already set, and the sky was an inky black, filled with thousands of tiny stars.

"Mummy, are we _walking _there?"

Alix laughed, "No, sweetheart, we'll be apparating once we leave the Hogwarts grounds." Alix was a bit apprehensive about being unprotected once she left the grounds, but she was comforted when she saw Dumbledore a few feet ahead of her, exiting the wrought iron gates, as well.

"Good evening, Alixandra," Dumbledore greeted, "oh and little Aurora, how are you?"

"I'm going to a meeting," she said importantly. Alix attempted to stifle her laughter.

Dumbledore replied, "As am I!"

"Shall we?" He added, holding out his arm. Alix picked up Aurora, and took Dumbledore's proffered arm gratefully; she knew the general location of the headquarters but apparating somewhere for the first time without being entirely confident could be dangerous. Within seconds, the three of them appeared in a quiet London square.

Aurora whined that she was dizzy from the trip, and Alix felt much the same, as she didn't apparate quite as often as she used to. When she regained her bearings, she realized why the address had seemed so familiar. She turned to Dumbledore, who understood her query before she posed it, "He donated it to the Order."

She merely nodded as they made their way to the door. She didn't know why, but her stomach fluttered nervously; maybe it was due to attending an Order meeting for the first time in fifteen years, or perhaps it was being in this house. She had only been inside once before; it was during the Christmas holidays of their fourth year; she had accompanied Sirius to a holiday gathering of his family's as a favor to him; she smiled at the memory of what a disaster it turned into when James and Remus crashed it in an attempt to "rescue" them. If her memory served her correctly, the house had been quite dark and unwelcoming, even then with the Christmas decorations, but Alix was utterly surprised when they entered the house. The house resembled nothing to the one of her memory, and she assumed that they had taken liberty in renovating it since it was now home to a much nobler cause.

Dumbledore glanced at his pocket watch, "Ah, we're a bit early, but let's go down to the kitchen anyway. I'm sure you'd like to meet some of our members before the meeting begins." His eyes twinkled behind his half moon spectacles. He led the way down a staircase into a large kitchen. Remus was sitting at a long table with three young men all with red hair. At their arrival, he stood, and grinned, "You finally made it to a meeting!"

She noticed that he was decidedly more cheerful than the last few times they were in each other's company, "Well, I _was _instructed that it was mandatory…by your owl, _and _Harry. Which I found rather odd," She raised an eyebrow at him quizzically. Remus smiled, and she detected an air of his old mischief, but he wouldn't let her settle on it for long. Instead he took to introducing her to the red haired men.

"This is Fred, George, and Bill Weasley," Remus said gesturing to the three, and then, "This is Alixandra Callaway…she's the new Defense professor at Hogwarts."

"Ah," one of the twins said, "So how are our lovely siblings doing? Causing any trouble?"

"They're both excellent students…although Ginny was falling behind for quite a while, but she's been improving in the last week or so."

"If we didn't know any better," one twin said, "we'd say it was dear _Harry's _fault for our sister's lack of interest in school."

"But," continued the other twin impishly, "fortunately for him, we _do _know better."

Bill, who was obviously older than the twins, rolled his eyes, but was clearly amused. Dumbledore and Remus chuckled.

Alix was positive that they all knew something that she didn't, but took a seat, and decided that she would find out in time.

Meanwhile, Aurora was growing increasingly bored of the conversation in the kitchen, as most five year olds would, and took it upon herself to explore. She quietly crept out of the kitchen, and up the stairs, wandering here and there, until she collided with someone much taller than her.

* * *

"I'm sorry!" Sirius said, looking down at the bewildered little girl who was sprawled at his feet. He offered her a hand to help her up, and she hesitantly took it.

"Are you all right?" he asked her, once she was standing. She nodded quietly. "Not much of a talker, are you?" He continued.

"I talk," she said, her blue eyes narrowed defensively.

Sirius chuckled, "Tell me then, what were you doing wandering around alone in my house?"

"This is _your _house?" She asked him skeptically as she briefly looked around the parlor.

"Yep. Now will you answer _my _question?"

"I was exploring," she said matter-of-factly.

"Oh…well then did you just stroll in off the street?" He knew this wasn't likely, but this little girl was awfully secretive for someone her age.

"_No_, I came here with my mummy and Puffesor Dumbleydorf." Sirius let out a bark like laugh, and the little girl glared (and rightfully so, he thought).

"What's so funny?" The look in her eyes reminded him of someone he knew, but he realized that it was completely ridiculous to make such a comparison.

"What was your name?" He asked her, trying to steer her away from being offended.

"Aurora," she said, crossing her arms, intent on remaining insulted.

Sirius however, enjoyed her stubbornness, "I'm Sirius," he said, putting out his hand. She placed her small one in his, and he shook.

Her expression softened, but she still narrowed her eyes as she asked, "Are you a wizard?"

He smiled, this time biting back his laughter, "Why, yes, I am actually. Why, does that mean you'll be my friend?"

"I don't know," she said scrutinizing him in a manner that seemed much too mature for a five year old. Again, he wanted to laugh.

"Well, I'll let you think about that, but in the mean time, how about I show you something." He knew just how to win her over.

"Is it magic?" Her eager tone suggested that she almost forgot her irritation towards him already.

He grinned, and without saying another word he transformed into the shaggy black dog.

Aurora gasped, "_Wow_." He licked her face and she giggled loudly.

He transformed back into a man, and he knew he had succeeded, "How did you _do _that?" She exclaimed in awe.

Sirius grinned, "Years of practice."

"Can I do that when I'm big?" Her blue eyes were wide with admiration.

He allowed himself to laugh this time, "If you'd like to…I'm sure you could study it."

"At Hogwarts?"

He laughed again, "Well…maybe when you're a little older than that."

She looked slightly put out, "How come?"

"Because it's very advanced magic. How old are you anyway?"

"Five," she said proudly.

He smiled, "And you're already thinking about Hogwarts?"

She nodded quite seriously, "I live there,"

Now it was his turn to look at her skeptically, "You _do?_"

"_Yes_, my mummy is a teacher."

"Ah," Still, he thought, it was quite odd for a professor's entire family to reside at Hogwarts with them, but he decided not to question her further about it.

"Does your mummy know you're exploring?" He changed the subject.

She shook her head, "She was talking to people in the kitchen."

He chuckled, "Maybe we should go find—"

Sirius began, but was cut off by a distant, "Aurora?"

"Mummy, come meet my new friend! He can turn into a _dog!_" Sirius grinned triumphantly at being called her friend, as Aurora rushed towards the hall where her mother's voice was coming from.

Her mother's voice was closer, "_There _you are! You shouldn't go running off on your own, darling." Sirius looked towards the entrance and was entirely unprepared for who stood there.

"This is my new friend Sirius, mummy." She was gesturing towards him, "Show her what you can do!" Aurora said, as Alix looked up, to catch him staring, and their eyes locked.

Her blue eyes widened in sheer astonishment, "Oh my."

* * *

**A/N: There were so many places I could have ended this chapter, but I didn't feel it was complete until Alix at least laid eyes on Sirius. I feel like I'm always apologizing for the amount of time it takes me to update, but what am I going to do. Anyway, this was my longest chapter yet, so I hope you all enjoyed it; I'm pretty proud of it. I cannot make any promises as to how long it'll take me to update from now on, as I've got an insane amount of work in every one of my classes. But if you've stuck around this long, I hope you plan on sticking it out until the end (even if it takes me forever to write it)! Thanks to everyone who reviewed before, and don't forget to review now, it's very important to me! Also, I'd love to hear your thoughts about what you like/dislike about this story. If you have any suggestions, feel free to tell me!**

**Until next time,**

**xx Chloe**


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